


Potters | Twin A.U. [1]

by shewrites_sowhat



Series: Potters | Twin A.U. [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Harry Potter Has a Twin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:02:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24406252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shewrites_sowhat/pseuds/shewrites_sowhat
Summary: Harry and Alexandra Potter had dreams like any normal person when they went to bed at night in the attic of their aunt and uncles house; however, they never could have dreamed up the sharp turn their lives were about to take on their eleventh birthday.For once it seemed, their miserable lives were about to start looking up when two mysterious letters arrived in the mail addressed to them....[*] Based off of the books, not the movies[*] All things Harry Potter belong to JK Rowling and Warner Bro's. I only own my character Alex and any other misc characters I may add as well as minor plot alterations.
Series: Potters | Twin A.U. [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1762489
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	1. The Twins Who Lived

Privet Drive was always a quiet, quaint little street. That's just the way it's residents liked it. Cozy suburban life where they could happily live out their dull boring lives, in an equally mundane neighborhood. All the houses stood in neat straight lines and looked exactly the same with neatly trimmed gardens. No funny business there, no sir. But if there was, naturally it was no secret. On the contrary gossip seemed to spread like fire through Privet Drive, as expected of any small community. Though nothing ever seemed to be out of the ordinary.

That is save for the man who was now standing on the street corner this late, calm night. He was everything against that which Privet drive stood for; utterly ridiculous, from his half-moon glasses, to his silly looking purple robe, even his silvery beard which stopped well beyond his belt. This was Albus Dumbledore, who seemed all but privy to how much he stood out.

His eyes shone with mischief as he reached into his robe and pulled out a light as if to smoke. It looked normal enough, but it did not function as normal; it was not meant for a cigar. He clicked it once, and the nearest street lamp went out with a faint pop. He clicked it until all the lights on the street were out. Had anybody wanted to see what happened next outside their windows, they would not be able to.

The only bit of light left on the street belonged to the two rounded eyes of a tabby cat, perched upon the retaining wall of a garden.

"I don't think I've ever seen a cat sit so stiffly before in my life," Dumbledore wondered aloud to himself as he caught sight of the cat. "Fancy seeing you here, Minerva." Suddenly, the cat leapt off of the wall, and taking its place, a stern looking woman in a robe similar to that of Dumbledore, but green.

"Was I really that obvious?" Minerva asked, brushing dust off herself.

"Quite the opposite actually, you were so still, I'm sure you were simply just mistaken for a garden statue."

"Albus!" His eyes crinkled slightly as he smiled at her teasingly.

"For how long were you sitting there?" He inquired.

"All day."

"My dear, you should've been celebrating."

"Ha! Much like everyone else?" She gave him a sharp glare. "They ought to be more careful. The muggles have already noticed strange happenings; I saw it on their news," she explained. They had indeed noticed. Reports of strange and unpredicted owl patterns, and meteor showers over London were boggling the minds of muggle citizens.

She paused, wondering if he had any input before pressing on, "As I was saying, it would be mighty fine if the whole wizarding world was discovered the same day You-Know-Who was defeated. Do you know what they're saying about his defeat," she continued, more anxious now, "They're saying he arrived in Godric's Hollow, and he— that the potters... they're dead." She looked over to him for answers, hoping it wasn't true.

He looked up at her solemnly from behind his spectacles and she understood.

"Oh, Albus... poor Lily and James...."

"I know, I know." He reached out and touched her shoulder. The air hung heavily now in the dark street.

Minerva took out a handkerchief, dabbing her tears away and composed herself once more.

"The rumors they've spread, they're saying that when he tried to kill their twins, he couldn't... that his power shattered and that is why he's no more." She looked once more at Dumbledore through the dark, but he did not meet her eyes. "Is it— is it true?" He nodded, and she let out a small gasp. "He's killed hundreds... but he couldn't kill two small children. It's astounding how they even survived."

"And we may never know the true secret behind it."

She dabbed at her eyes again before replacing the kerchief back in the pocket of her robe. Dumbledore looked to the sky expectantly. "Hagrid is late."

"Dumbledore, what are we doing here exactly?"

"I am giving Harry and Alexandra to their aunt and uncle. This is the only family they have left."

She started, and had to contain herself so as not to wake up the neighborhood. "You cannot possibly mean to entrust them to the people who live here," she pointed to the house they stood in front of, with the number four on the door. "I have been watching them all day, they couldn't be more unlike us! Their son is a terror, demanding of his mother, a-and they'll never understand the two of them."

"It is the best for them. Everyone will know their names, famous before they can walk and talk. It could go to any child's head. Which is why they must stay here, to grow up away from it all. Until they are ready."

Minerva opened her mouth to argue, but thought better of it. "I suppose...you are right. How are they getting here?"

"Hagrid."

She blinked owlishly. "Hagrid."

"Yes."

"And you trust him with such a task."

"I would trust Hagrid with my life."

"You don't think it's a little— what was that?" There came a rumbling in the sky, not much unlike thunder. The sound got closer, practically shaking the houses that lined the street. Suddenly a headlight appeared above and a motorcycle descended from the clouds carrying a wild looking, rather large man in stature. In his arms he had a bundle of blankets.

"Hagrid, at last," Dumbledore breathed. "Everything alright in retrieving them?"

"Oh yeah. The house was nearly destroyed completely, but I got 'em out in time. Tried ter clean 'em up as best I could. They fell asleep as we was flying here," he explained, handing both Minerva and Dumbledore a child. Minerva looked down at the two of them sleeping.

On Alexandra's head just below her jet black hair, a curious cut, shaped like a bolt of lightning branched out down the side of her face. The shape seemed to continue to Harry's face, though he seemed to have been spared the worst of it.

"My goodness," she whispered. "That'll leave a scar on the both of them for sure...."

"It seems she had gotten most of the hit as well, and it ricocheted and hit little Harry."

Minerva cradled a baby Alexandra in her arms, looking down at her sadly. "Are you sure we have to leave them here, Albus...?"

"I am certain."

Hagrid burst out in tears, wailing into the night. "Hush, your blubbering will wake up the block," Minerva reprimanded. He gave a great sniffle. "S-sorry," he sobbed into his arm. "It's jus' James and Lily gone, and now li'l Harry and Alex off ter live with muggles...." He pulled out a large handkerchief and cried into it.

"Yes, but keep it down or we'll be seen." She patted his arm gently, still holding Alexandra.

"It's time, Minerva," Dumbledore nodded to the door of Number Four, Privet Drive.

"Right."

They walked gingerly up to the door and placed the babies gently down on the doorstep.

Returning to Hagrid, they looked on at the two little bundles. Minerva had taken out her handkerchief once more. Hagrid shook like a leaf.

"We should be leaving now. We have no more business here."

"I'd best be returnin' this bike ter young Sirius Black."

He turned, still sniffling, and climbed upon the motorcycle once more. The engine roared to life. "G'night Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore." And with another great roar, the bike lifted up towards the sky and off into the night.

Dumbledore and Minerva exchanged one more look before parting ways. Dumbledore walked to the end of the street before retrieving the Putter-Outer once more from inside his robes. He clicked it once, and all the light returned to the street, casting all of Privet drive in orange. From there he could barely make out the small bundles on the doorstep of Number Four.

"Good luck."

In a moment, he was gone, as though he was never there to begin with.

Harry and Alexandra slept soundly through the night, totally unaware that all over the world people would raise their glasses tonight,

"To Harry and Alexandra Potter!"


	2. They Didn’t Choose the Attic Life, the Attic Life Chose Them

The Dursleys' house had changed little over the past ten years, despite gaining two new tenants. In fact, you'd never know just by looking at the place that two other children even lived there at all. The only thing that had seemed to change were the pictures on the mantle above the fireplace that proved time had continued to march on. None of the pictures held evidence that more than three people, a man and wife, and their child lived there. Hardly anyone knew that in fact two most peculiar twins lived under the same roof. Quite literally, as Harry and Alexandra had been living in the attic of the Dursley residence for as long as they can remember.

They didn't mind too terribly. It was particularly cramped, they were always the first to know when it rained, several buckets of water proved as much, and there were always spiders up there, but they had each other to keep as company, so it wasn't all dreary. They even had a small circular window to look out of if they climbed atop a box or two, although it was too small and too high up for them both to look out of.

A sharp rapping came from the floor below, rousing Harry and Alex from their sleep. The trap door opened, a ladder falling down in place. Petunia's head appeared in the opening. "Get up!" She screeched at the two of them. "UP!" Then she disappeared from view.

Alex was up first, stretching on the small mat she used as a bed. She looked over at the old calendar she had found in one of the boxes of junk the Dursleys had stored up there. Of course it was years old, so the dates didn't exactly line up, but Alex had taken a pen and rewritten the days so they would be correct. And if she was right, then today was her cousin's birthday. She crept over to Harry, who was starting to get up groggily, grabbed the sleeve of his shirt, and shook him awake.

"What's the matter with you?" he asked tiredly, reaching for his glasses, which were broken and held together by tape.

"Do you know what today is?"

Harry shook his head, his mop of black hair becoming even more a mess.

"It's Dudley's birthday," Alex responded, showing him the calendar. His eyes widened. How could he have forgotten. They both scrambled to finish getting dressed.

"Are you two up yet?" Petunia demanded.

"Nearly!" Harry called.

"Well get a move on! I want everything to be perfect on Duddy's special day!"

Alex reached for a pair of socks, finding a spider on them. After shaking it off she slipped them on. The two of them were finally dressed, both in clothes that fit neither of them as they were far too baggy. The Dursleys rarely bought them new clothes as they felt they spent enough on feeding and raising them, so the twins typically got Dudley's hand-me-downs. Alex always had to roll the cuffs of her pants up so she could even walk in them, and had to pull them up to her waist with a belt to keep them on.

One at a time they climbed down the ladder to the second floor of the house, then they pushed the ladder back up into the ceiling, closing the trap door behind it. Suddenly Dudley came running out of his room, pushing both Harry and Alex over and into the wall. Alex frowned at his back as he descended the staircase.

"And a good morning to you too, cousin," she muttered.

When they'd made it down the stairs, Petunia started barking orders at the two of them, "Cook the breakfast—set the table!" The coffee table in the living room was completely covered in presents. They weren't sure if the table was even under there anymore. Alex noted a racing bike leaned up against the wall, though why it was there was beyond her. Dudley didn't like exercise, unless it involved punching, especially punching her brother Harry. But he hardly ever caught up to Harry. He was a much faster runner.

Maybe it was the fact the two of them lived in a dark attic for most of their lives, but the twins were thin and wiry, always pretty small and skinny. Wearing Dudley's old clothes didn't much help as it made them look even skinnier. They both had jet black hair and green eyes, almost identical. If Alex cut all her hair off, you'd might confuse the two. The only way you'd be able to tell who was who would be by the scars on their foreheads. Alex's scar took up much more space on her forehead than Harry's did his, and was on the left of her face, Harry's on his right. Harry thought they looked cool. "They look like lightning," he told Alex one day. Alex didn't seem that impressed. They had asked Aunt Petunia how they had gotten them one day.

"In the car crash your parents died in," she answered shortly. "Don't ask questions." That was one of many rules they lived by don't ask questions. Petunia always made a face as though she had just eaten a lemon when either of them ever dared to ask any question, so they typically didn't.

Uncle Vernon sat down at the kitchen table with the paper.

"Comb your hair!" Vernon barked, as a morning greeting to the two of them. Alex subconsciously moved to try and flatten the rats nest atop her head, as she moved to the cabinets to fetch the dishes. Harry must have gotten more haircuts than any boy in their grade, but nothing changed. His hair simply grew like that; wild. Alex on the other hand only ever had her bangs cut, leaving the rest of her hair to grow out extremely long. It was Petunia's hope that it would present her as more of a girl, and that perhaps the weight would tame some of the wild curls. Petunia was, however, mistaken.

Alex had set the table and Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like his father. Not much neck, always a bit red in the face, small blue, beady eyes, and thick blonde hair atop his thick head. Petunia often said he looked like an angel. Harry liked to say he looked like a pig in a wig, to which Alex would tell Harry to not insult pigs like that.

"Thirty-six!" was the first thing Dudley said to his father upon entering the kitchen. "That's two less than last year!"

"Oh but popkin, you haven't counted the one in the corner from Aunt Marge," said Petunia with her shrill voice.

"Fine then, thirty-seven," he said, slumping down at the table, significantly more red in the face than usual. Alex, sensing a tantrum, slinked over to the stove where Harry was standing to help with breakfast. Perhaps speeding it up and getting it to his plate would help.

Petunia sensed danger too and piped up, "And we'll buy you two more when we're out today, how's that? Then you'll have thirty-nine."

Dudley, thought for a moment, checking the math. It looked like it was particularly hard work. "Alright," he seemed satisfied enough.

"Little tike wants his money's worth, like his father," Uncle Vernon chuckled from across the table.

Dudley began ripping into presents as the phone rang. Petunia went to answer it and came back looking sullen. "Bad news, Vernon. Mrs. Figg has broken her leg, so she can't take them," She said, nodding her head towards the twins.

Dudley's jaw dropped, and Harry's heart skipped a beat. Alex rolled her eyes to herself. Every year on Dudley's birthday, they went out to have a grand time, leaving Alex and Harry at Mrs. Figg's, a neighbor down the street. Harry absolutely hated it there. Her living room smelled horrid, like cabbage and she showed them pictures of all the cats she's owned. Alex, on the other hand, didn't mind it much. It's not like she ever wanted to spend more time with Dudley, and his friends.

Petunia and Vernon debated on what to do with them, finally settling on taking them along.

Soon the doorbell rang, signaling Dudley's friend Piers Polkiss had arrived. Moments ago Dudley had been pretending to cry, throwing a fit at the idea of Harry and Alex tagging along, but with Piers being here now, it was like it hadn't even happened.

"I'm warning you two," Vernon said to the twins, "Any funny business, anything at all and you'll be in that attic until Christmas!"

"We won't do anything," Harry argued.

"Honest!" Alex chimed in. But he didn't believe them. No one ever did. Strange things had a nasty habit of happening around the two of them. And it never worked telling the Dursley's it wasn't their fault. Most people believed they were partners in crime, and that neither could be trusted.

Once Petunia had cut Harry's hair so short he was nearly bald, save for his bangs to hide that "awful scar." He and Alex couldn't stop thinking how teased he would get at school the next day, when the next morning he awoke with a full head of hair again.

Another time Alex was running from Dudley and his gang, when suddenly she was on the roof of the school kitchens. She had meant to jump behind a trash bin. The Dursley's were not happy when they received a letter from the school about how Alex had been climbing school buildings.

Today, though, today would not go wrong. They were determined to make the most of being anywhere else but their attic or Mrs. Figg's.

They had the best morning they'd had in a long time. They'd never seen so many different animals in their life, it was quite exciting. At lunch, Dudley complained that there wasn't enough ice cream in his sundae, so Vernon got him a new one, and allowed Harry to finish the rest. He tried to give it to his sister. "No that's alright," she told him. "Go ahead and eat it, my appetite's quite ruined just from looking at Dudley and Piers."

After lunch they went down to the reptile house. Piers and Dudley wanted to see the large man-crushing pythons, disappointed when they went up to the glass to find it sitting about lazily. "Make it do something!" Dudley demanded. Vernon rapped on the glass smartly. But the snake didn't budge. Shortly they moved on, and the twins took their place.

Alex leaned on a rail in front of the glass and sighed. "Know what that's like," she remarked, thinking back to Aunt Petunia's sharp rapping on the attic door in the morning. "Surrounded by dullards, gawking at you, tapping on the glass."

"At least we get to visit the rest of the house. And I'm not a dullard," Harry countered.

Alex shot him a sideways glance, and pursed her lips. "Maybe not on your best days."

Suddenly the snake began to move, raising its head up until it was level with the two of them. Then it winked. Harry started, and Alex widened her eyes.

"Did you see that too?" Harry questioned Alex. She nodded quickly, still gazing at the snake

The snake jerked its head at Vernon and Dudley, then moved its eyes to look at the ceiling. A look that said "I get that all the time."

"Must be really annoying," Alex suggested. The snake moved and put its head next to the sign in front of the glass.

Boa Constrictor, Brazil

"Was it nice there, in Brazil?" Harry wondered. But then Alex pointed and read "Bred in captivity. You've never been." The snake lowered its head.

Then came a deafening shout from behind Alex's ear, "MR. DURSLEY, DUDLEY COME QUICK YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT THE SNAKE IS DOING!"

Dudley pushed Alex into Harry who went tumbling to the floor, and pressed himself up against the glass, only the glass wasn't there anymore. Piers and Dudley jumped back, quick as lightning. It was the fastest Alex had seen Dudley move in her life. The snake began to slither out of the tank. People were screaming, and running from the room. Alex was trying her best not to laugh at the ashen looks on everybody's faces as she helped Harry to his feet. As the snake slid past them, Alex could have sworn she heard it say in a low voice, "Thanksss...."

"No problem," she responded, astonished. "You heard that too, right, Harry?"

"Yeah...."

In the car on the way home, Dudley was telling Vernon how it almost completely bit off his leg while Piers claimed it tried to strangle him, but that's not how Alex and Harry remembered it. Then the twins' hearts sank, when Piers spoke up, "You two were talking to it, weren't you?"

After Piers had left, Vernon turned a deep shade of violet. "Upstairs—attic—no meals." He was so mad he could barely get a word out.

It was the longest punishment either of them had suffered. They couldn't risk sneaking down for food until the middle of the night as the attic entrance was just down the hall from the bedrooms. Alex would have to keep watch as Harry crept down the stairs.

During their time in the attic though they discussed the rather strange dreams they both kept having.

"I keep seeing massive amounts of green light," Alex explained.

"Me too!"

"Shh pipe down, you don't want them to hear you and come up to yell at us. What do you suppose it means? I think it might be a memory from the night our parents died."

"Perhaps...my scar always hurts when I have that dream."

Alex gasped, "Mine too!"

They couldn't right remember their parents. There were no pictures of them in the house, and no other evidence they existed, much like the twins. It was as though the Potters were the best kept secret this side of Little Whinging. It certainly seemed so, anyway. The twins were considered mysterious at school as well. No one would come near the two of them, because they didn't know much about them. Only that Dudley and his gang hated them. And if they hated them, then they weren't to be associated with. Alex always told Harry they were too good for any of them anyway, but she mainly told that to herself, so she wouldn't feel so bad when the other girls shot her mean looks, or when other boys would trip and push Harry. Alex had gotten into trouble for defending Harry from bullies a lot. She wasn't good at it, but she felt like she needed to help her twin, the only person who was there for her. Harry had told her twice to stop now, but she didn't listen.

"It's about loyalty," she tried to explain to him one day, "And defending your honor."

"I don't need it."

"I'll be sure to mention that to all the bruises on your knees then."


	3. Letters, Letters Everywhere

By the time Alex and Harry were allowed out of the attic, the summer holidays had begun. And by then Alex and Harry had reorganized all of the Dursleys' junk stored in the attic twice over. They found old yellowed photos and a chessboard that was missing a couple pieces. Despite having cleaned it as much as they did, the twins still found spiders in the corners.

They were glad that school was out for the summer, but that meant now there was no escaping Dudley and his gang, who were over almost every day. They all enjoyed Dudley's favorite sport, Harry Hunting. So the twins spent as much time as possible out of the house. Most days they'd wander about the neighborhood, taking turns kicking pebbles up and down the sidewalk. Alex would like to check up on Mrs. Figg occasionally. "It just seems like the right thing to do, poor woman." The first time Dudley took his racing bike out, he knocked Mrs. Figg over as she waddled up Privet Drive on her crutches. Harry didn't mind being over there half as much anymore. Apparently she had broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them anymore.

Other days they would walk to the park and get on the swings to see who could swing higher without falling off.

And though the summer was nice, the twins were excited for the next term to start. They'd be going off to secondary school and, for the first time their life, they'd be away from Dudley. He had been accepted to Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings Academy. Meanwhile Alex and Harry would be attending the local public school, Stonewall High. Dudley thought this was particularly funny.

"I heard they shove kids' heads in toilets there. Want to go upstairs and practice?" He asked one day.

"No thanks," Harry responded, "I don't think the poor toilet's ever had anything as bad as your head down it."

"It might be sick," Alex added and high-fived Harry. The two then ran off before Dudley could process exactly what they had said.

When Dudley got his new uniform from London, Aunt Petunia couldn't stop fussing over her "little man" and "how grown up he is!" He strut around the living room in the maroon tailcoat and orange knickerbockers, atop his head a straw boater. The twins found it very hard not to laugh and had to excuse themselves to their attic.

The following morning when Alex entered the kitchen for breakfast she was met with the most awful smell. She realized it was coming from a tub in the sink which was filled with what appeared to be rags floating in grey water. "What's this?"

"It's you and Harry's uniforms for school next term," Aunt Petunia answered.

Harry had just walked in the kitchen, scrunching his nose up at the smell.

"I didn't realize they had to be so wet," Alex remarked, continuing to peer down into the tub.

"Don't be stupid."

"Yeah, don't be stupid," Harry told Alex coming up next to her. She shot him a look.

"I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things. It'll be a lot cheaper this way," Aunt Petunia explained, "and by the time I'm finished, they'll look just like the school's." Alex sincerely doubted this.

The three of them began to prep breakfast as Dudley and Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen, also getting smacked in the face with the smell of dye first thing in the morning. As soon as they all sat down at the kitchen table, the mail slot opened and smacked shut signaling the post had arrived.

"Get the mail, Dudley," Vernon said.

"Make Harry get it."

"Get the mail, Harry."

"Make Dudley get it."

"Good Lord, I'll get it. Don't everybody jump at once," Alex huffed, standing up from the table.

She walked out of the kitchen down the hall to the door and picked the mail up from the mat under the door. There were just four things: A letter from Vernon's sister, a cable bill, and two rather strange looking envelopes bearing a violet wax seal with a coat of arms on it. Alex stood there in the hall, and flipped them over finding something shocking. There, in emerald colored ink, was Alex's name on one address, and Harry's on the other:

Ms. A. Potter  
The Attic  
4 Privet Dr.  
Little Whinging

Mr. H. Potter  
The Attic  
4 Privet Dr.  
Little Whinging

"What's taking so long?" Uncle Vernon hollered from the other room. Alex hurried back into the kitchen, handing him the letter and bill. Then she tapped Harry on the shoulder.

"What?" She nodded her head away from the kitchen table, towards the living area. "C'mere for a sec."

He got up and followed her to the couch. When they sat down, she handed him the letter with his name on it.

"What's this."

"What's it look like?" she asked, waving it in front of his face.

"It's a letter, but what have you got it for?"

"It's got your name on it. Don't you want to read it?"

He stared back at her in disbelief, finally snatching the letter from her hand to look it over. "Who'd be writing to me?"

"Us," Alex corrected, holding her own up. "And I have no clue. There's no return address.... Let's open them."

"On three. One..."

"Two..."

"Three."

They were just beginning to pop the seals off when Dudley looked over at them from the table and shouted, "Dad look! They've got something!"

Uncle Vernon stood up quick and marched over to them, snatching the letters up. "Give me that!" he spat.

"Give us our letters back!" Harry spat back.

"Letters? Who would be writing to you two?" He looked down at the address, and took the letter out, suddenly turning very red. "P-P-Petunia. Come see these." Aunt Petunia came running from the kitchen as Uncle Vernon held the letters up in the air keeping them from Dudley who was trying to get a glance. Petunia took one of the letters and soon looked faint.

"Out!" Vernon demanded. "All three of you out!"

"But I want to see!" whined Dudley.

"I want to see!" yelled Alex, "They're our letters!"

"I SAID OUT!" Uncle Vernon grabbed Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and tossed them both out into the hallway. Alex didn't wait for an invitation. Then the three of them promptly began to fight over who would get to listen through the keyhole. Dudley won, so Harry was lying flat on the ground to listen under the door, while Alex stood above Harry pressing her ear to the door trying to hear what they said.

"You know what this means...how do they know where they're sleeping..."

"...you think we're being watched..."

"Quite possibly...."

That night when Uncle Vernon got home from work, he did something he'd never done before. He visited the twins in the attic. He popped his head up through the trap door in the floor, scaring the living daylights out of the twins.

"Where are our letters?" Alex asked.

"Gone, I've gotten rid of them. Say, it's a bit cramped up here, and you two are getting older. Why don't you take Dudley's second room?"

"Why are we moving there?" Alex wondered.

"Don't ask questions!"

It took one trip to move their stuff from the attic to Dudley's second room. It was the smallest of the four bedrooms in the house. Uncle Vernon and Petunia shared the largest, Dudley had the second largest. The third was used for guests, usually Vernon's sister Marge, and the last, and littlest room, was used as extra space for all of Dudley's stuff. It was like a wasteland, and where all broken or forgotten toys and presents came to die. There was an empty bird cage in the corner that used to house a live parrot that Dudley traded at school for a real air rifle, which sat atop a shelf on the wall, bent from when Dudley sat on it.

They almost didn't notice the lone bed covered in broken gadgets, and dusty books that had probably never been read. Alex lifted the mat she brought down from the attic. "I'll take the floor."

Harry whirled around to face her with a wildly confused expression. "I don't think so."

"What are you going to do? Fight me for the floor? Don't be ridiculous."

"Well it's not that I want to sleep on the floor, but I don't want you to sleep on the floor either, that's just as ridiculous. And I'll feel bad."

"Aw boo boo. How about this," Alex offered, "We can take turns. Does that make you feel better?"

Harry huffed at her, but conceded. "I'll take the floor first though," Alex said, beginning to roll out the mat on the floor. "Toss me a pillow will you?"

The following morning when the mail had come, Uncle Vernon made Dudley go get it. He came back into the room waving four letters similar to the original two in the air. "There's more!" he shouted. 

The addresses read:

Ms. A. Potter  
The Smallest Bedroom  
4 Privet Dr.  
Little Whinging

Mr. H. Potter  
The Smallest Bedroom  
4 Privet Drive  
Little Whinging

Alex and Vernon raced to Dudley, Vernon making it there faster, and ripping the letters to shred in front of her eyes.

But Alex had a plan.

The next morning, an alarm clock she had found in Dudley's old room and repaired went off before early light. She quickly shut it off and slipped out of bed, kneeling down next to Harry to wake him up quietly. "Come on, we're getting our letters," she whispered. The crept silently down the stairs, careful of the one that creaked. When they made it to the bottom, Harry had stepped on something squishy. It yelped, and the twins reeled back, tripping over their own feet. The light flicked on in the hallway. Turns out Harry had stepped on Uncle Vernon's face. He had been sleeping on the door mat to prevent Harry and Alex from exactly what they were doing.

He ordered them to the kitchen to make him a cup of tea and start breakfast. By the time they had finished, the mail had already come, through the slot in the door, and right into Uncle Vernon's lap. Later that morning he burned them.

That day Uncle Vernon didn't go into work. He spent the day nailing the mail slot shut. "Can't deliver the mail if there's nowhere to deliver it to!"

But the next day there were two letters wedged in the door frame, three in the window by the door, two rolled up in the eggs carton, and others wedged in various window sills.

All letters were collected and burned.

Then on the following day, they were all seated in the living area. Uncle Vernon was looking especially happy. No one was saying a word as they drank their tea, until Vernon broke the silence.

"Fine day, Sunday," he remarked, "Anybody know why?" He raised an eyebrow at Dudley, who shook his head vigorously.

"Because there's no post on Sundays," Harry responded.

"Right you are! No post on Sundays," he repeated, almost giddy. "No post—"

Just then a piece of parchment shot through the chimney, and sharply knocked the biscuit from Uncle Vernon's raised hand. And then quick as lightning, hundreds of letters came rocketing through the chimney flooding the room, flying through the air. Harry stood in the chair trying to grab one from the air, while Alex bent down and snatched one off the floor, shoving it under her shirt to hide it. Aunt Petunia and Dudley ran shrieking from the room, Petunia pulling Alex along with her. Vernon grabbed Harry by the waist and threw him out into the hall, shutting the door to the living area behind them, furious.

They could still hear the sound of letters bouncing off the walls, continually flooding the room.

"Everybody pack a bag! We're leaving! Somewhere they'll never find us!"

Everybody split, and Alex took the letter out from under her jumper, showing Harry. "Look I got one!"

But just as she said that, Vernon came up behind her and snatched it away.

After a moment they were all crowded in the car, driving fast and far away from Privet Drive. It had taken longer than hoped as Vernon had to stop and yell at Dudley for trying to pack his TV and computer in his sports bag.

Every now and then while driving, Uncle Vernon would make a U-turn and drive a while in the opposite direction. Every time he did so he would mutter, "Shake 'em off. Shake 'em off."

It was by far the worst day of Dudley's life. No television, no computer, and they hadn't stopped once, so they were all feeling pretty stiff by the end of the drive. When they had finally reached their destination, it was pouring outside, and already starting to get dark. Uncle Vernon pointed to a small island off the shore with a less than assuring shack perched atop it. "That's where we're staying!" he announced proudly. "Already got us some rations."

His rations had turned out to be a bag of chips and an apple each.

The storm raged all night. Between that and Dudley's ever present snoring, Harry and Alex could hardly sleep. They weren't terribly upset at this though. They decided to just stay up and wait for their birthday. They used the lit up face of Dudley's wrist watch to count down the time. Alex had drawn a picture of a birthday cake with candles on top in the dirt ground of the shack.

"What if we wake him up at midnight," Alex suggested to Harry. "Just for a laugh."

"Maybe," Harry answered. It was tempting. "The storm is really getting bad out there. Is that the waves hitting the island, that sound?"

Alex shrugged, continuing to draw in the dirt.

Harry tapped Alex's shoulder and pointed to Dudley's watch face. It was nearly midnight. They began to count down.

"Five..."

"Four..."

"Three..."

"Two...

"One," they said in unison. Suddenly BOOM! The door of the shack flew off its hinges.


	4. A Most Peculiar Eleventh Birthday

The door to the shack flew off its hinges revealing a massive dark figure, a rather giant of a man, carrying a pink umbrella. He entered the shack, and picked up the door, replacing it back in the door frame, muttering, "Sorry 'bout that. Now how about lightin' a fire? It's rainin' sideways ou' there, and it hasn't been an easy journey getting here, mind you."

Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had awoken with a start, and had rushed in from the other room. Vernon was brandishing a shotgun while Petunia cowered behind him, her nightcap askew. Uncle Vernon wasn't faring so well himself though, his face going from red to purple. Dudley had run over to hide with his mother.

The new stranger was in fact one of the strangest people Alex had ever laid eyes on. He was three times as tall as any normal man, his head brushing the ceiling, and about five times as wide. His feet were the size of baby dolphins and his hands the size of trash can lids. His beard and wild mane of hair were dark and bushy, almost completely covering his face save for his beetle-black eyes. She and Harry looked on in wonder as he stepped in front of the cold fireplace. They couldn't see what he was doing but when he stepped back again, the fire was alight with brilliant flame, instantly warming the small shack. He turned his gaze to the twins.

"Harry, Alexandra! Haven't seen yeh since you two was only babies!"

Vernon made a gasping sound like a fish out of water.

"You two look a lot like your father, but yeh've got yer mum's eyes."

Vernon finally finding his voice and courage stepped forward. "I demand you leave at once sir! You are breaking and entering!"

"Shut up, Dursley yeh great prune." The giant took the shotgun from Uncle Vernon's hands, and bent the barrel into a knot as easily as if it were made of rubber. Then he tossed it into a corner and sat down on the tragic looking couch in the middle of the room, which sank under the weight. Uncle Vernon made another funny sound, like a mouse being stepped on.

Alex and Harry were just standing there, wide eyed, before the giant turned to them again. "Happy Birthday, you two," he said, beginning to rummage through his coat. "Might've sat on it at some point, but I reckon it'll taste just fine." He handed them a slightly squashed looking box. They opened it to find a small cake with pink frosting and the words "Happy birthday" written in green icing.

"Thank you, but..." Alex started.

"Who are you?" Harry asked.

"Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of the keys and Grounds at Hogwarts School. But yeh'll know all about Hogwarts o'course."

"No," Harry responded. Alex shook her head.

"Blimey! I knew yeh wasn't getting yer letters but I didn't think yeh wouldn't know about Hogwarts! You two ever wonder where yer parents learned it all?"

"Sorry?"

"All what?" Alex inquired, exchanging confused looks with Harry.

"All what—all what?" Hagrid turned around and fixed Uncle Vernon with a glare. He stood against the wall with Petunia. "Yer telling me that these two don' know nothin' about ANYTHING?" Alex silently agreed with Hagrid, thinking back to her rather poor marks this past term. Harry, however, thought this was going a bit far seeing as he had received a basic education thus far in his life.

"We can do some things y'know—well, maybe not Alex," he remarked, earning a punch on the arm from his sister.

"I mean about our world, yer world, yer parents' world."

"And what world is that?"

"DURSLEY!" Hagrid shouted, making Vernon shrink into himself. "Yeh must know about your parents. They're famous—you're famous." He trailed off noting their visible confusion. "Yeh don' know who yeh are...?"

A braver man than Vernon wouldn't have said anything, but he found his voice again and spat, "Stop right there. I forbid you to tell them anymore!"

Hagrid stood up, and turned to fully face the Dursleys. "You never told the two of them anything about what was in that letter? I was there y'know. The night Dumbledore dropped them off on your stoop. An' he left a letter detailing everything to know in it, and you never told them what they are!"

"What are you talking about?" Alex questioned, coming up beside Hagrid. He looked down at her and Harry's bewildered faces, and couldn't help but feel sorry for them. "Yer wizards," he told them matter-of-factly.

"What?" Harry exclaimed.

"Wizards," Hagrid said again. "And thumpin' good ones at that, what with a little more trainin'. Yer parents were some o' the best, and they learned it all at Hogwarts. Speaking of, I think it's abou' time yeh read yer letters." He handed them both letters, addressed in that emerald ink to Ms. A. Potter (Mr. H. Potter for Harry's), The Floor, The Hut-On-The-Rock, The Sea.

Harry and Alex tore the envelopes open and pulled out pieces of parchment.

About a million questions were racing through the twins' minds. Harry spoke up first, "Hagrid. What does it mean they await my owl...?"

"Oh that reminds me!" Hagrid reaches into his coat once again and this time he pulls out an owl. A real, living owl. Alex and Harry's eyes nearly popped out of their head in astonishment. Next Hagrid retrieved a piece of parchment and a quill. He wrote a message on it. Harry and Alex read it upside down.

Dear Professor Dumbledore,  
Given the twins their letters.  
Taking them to buy their things tomorrow.  
The weather's awful. Hope you're well.  
-Hagrid

Then he rolled it up, gave it to the owl to hold in its beak, and sent it out the window out into the storm.

"Hagrid," Alex suddenly said, "Is there really a school to teach us magic?"

"Well, o' course there is! And Hogwarts is abou' the finest school in the world to learn it."

"They'll not be going!" Uncle Vernon bellowed from across the room. "I won't allow it!"

Hagrid rounded on him once again. "And how's a great muggle such as yourself going to stop them?"

"Muggle?" Alex wondered aloud.

"Non magic folk. And it was yer two poor fortunes that landed yeh with just about the worst muggles around."

Uncle Vernon was turning purple again, and began waving his finger in the air wildly. "We swore we'd stamp it out! This nonsense! The day we took them in!"

"You knew?" Alex asked, her voice a whisper, cracking. She couldn't believe it.

"You knew THE WHOLE TIME?" Harry shouted. Alex reached out and put a hand on her brother's shoulder, trying to calm him down a bit. Though her heart wasn't much in it because she felt just as mad at the Durselys for lying to them for the past ten years about who they were.

"Well?" she inquired, giving her Uncle Vernon a pointed look, though it was Aunt Petunia who answered, in her shrill voice. "Of course we knew. With my sister being what she was. I remember the day her letter came. Our parents were so proud. A witch in the family. But I was the only one who saw her for what she was; a freak. She too went off to that wretched school bringing home toad spawn and turning teacups into rats! Then she met that Potter boy. And they had you two. And we knew you'd be just as strange just as abnormal. And then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up!"

Harry and Alex went rather pale. They broke the silence, both talking at once, "Blown up—you told us they died in a car crash—what do you mean blown up—how could you have not told us!"

"A CAR CRASH?" Hagrid's voice made the whole hut shake. "Lily and James Potter die in a car crash? That's an outrage! A scandal! Harry and Alex Potter not knowing their own story when every kid in our world knows their name!"

"But why?" The twins looked to him, desperate for answers. Their whole world had been shattered within a matter of moments. Their whole lives were a lie? Hagrid looked suddenly crestfallen.

"I didn't know what ter be expectin' but it wasn't this," he mumbled. "Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' yeh, how much yeh didn't know. I'm not even sure it's my place, but someone's gotta tell yeh. Can't have you going off to Hogwarts knowin' nothing." He shot the Dursleys a dirty look before sitting back down on the sofa again, staring into the fire.

"It all started years ago with a person named—I don' like sayin the name—blimey, no one does."

"Why's that?"

"People are still scared, see? Anyway, this wizard went dark, went as bad as you can get. Maybe even worse. His name..."

"Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.

"Nah, I can't spell."

"I'm not right good at it either," Alex admitted.

Hagrid looked down at her with a bit of sympathy before continuing, "Alright, his name was—Voldemort. Don' ask me ter say it again." He shuddered. "This dark wizard began looking for a following, and he got it too. They all had various reasons that part doesn't matter much. Point is, he just kept getting more and more power. It was dark times. Couldn't get too friendly with any witch or wizard on the streets, people didn't know who to trust. Terrible things were happening, he was taking over—course no one would stand up to him. Anyone who tried got killed. The only safe place left was ol' Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore was the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of.

Now yer mum an' dad were two o' the best witch and wizard I've seen. Head boy and girl in their day! No one quite knows fer sure why he went after 'em. All anyone knows is he turned up on Halloween ten years ago where you was livin' an'—an' he...he killed them."  
He paused to blow his nose in a hankerchief. "The real mystery is when he tried to kill you two. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, but he couldn't do it. And that's where you got yer scars from. It's a mark that shows yeh've been touched by a dark curse. Took out your mum and dad, and even your house, but not you two. And that's why you're famous. No one ever lived once they'd been marked off to be killed by him, no one, but you two. Yer the twins who lived.

Took yeh from yer house myself, and brought you to this lot, on Dumbledore's orders."

"Utter load of tosh!" Uncle Vernon spat.

The twins jumped, having nearly forgotten the Dursleys were still there.

"I accept there's something strange about you, no doubt about it. And as for your parents, got what they were asking for getting mixed up with these wizards, the world is better off without them. I knew they'd come to a sticky end--"

Hagrid picked up his pink umbrella again, brandishing it like a sword at Vernon. "I'm warning you—one more word."

He shrunk back against the wall.

"That's what I thought."

Meanwhile the Twins still had so many questions about everything.

"What happened to Vol—sorry, You-Know-Who?" Alex inquired.

"That's a good question. No one knows for sure. He disappeared the same night he tried to kill you. That's what makes yeh even more famous. Some say he died. Codswallop in my opinion. I'm not sure there was enough human left in him to die. No I reckon he's still out there, too weak to go on. Not quite dead, but not quite alive either. All because you two, that night, you stumped him."

Hagrid beamed at them with respect and pride, but the twins weren't feeling it. Harry wondered to himself how on earth he could be this supposed powerful wizard, when his whole life, Dudley had kicked him around like a football. If he was some great wizard, how come the Dursleys hadn't all turned into toads every time they locked Alex and him in the attic. Alex was equally perplexed. She had been a nobody her whole life, and if she were some great witch, how come she couldn't do math right, and how come the girls who said nasty things to her in the halls at school didn't run away screaming as their faces broke out when Alex wished they had.

"There's been some sort of mistake," Harry said, quietly.

"I agree. There's no way I—we could be wizards."

"Oh really?" Hagrid chuckled. "Ever make something happen that you couldn't explain when you was scared or angry?"

Alex and Harry looked at each other, realizing the same thing. Of course there were plenty of times. Like Harry with his hair, and Alex suddenly being on the roof of the school. Not to mention countless other things, and just the other day. They had sent a boa constrictor on Dudley and Piers.

"See?" said Hagrid. "Not a wizard or witch. Just you wait. You'll be right famous at Hogwarts."

"Haven't I told you already? They're not going!" Uncle Vernon yelled.

"I'd like to see you try and stop 'em," responded Hagrid. "Lily and James' kids not going to Hogwarts. Mad! They'll finally get to be with other people like them. And they'll be under the instruction of the greatest headmaster the school's ever had, Albus Dumbledo—"

"I will not pay for them to go to some shoddy school for some crackpot old fool to teach them magic tricks!"

"Do not—insult—Albus Dumbledore—in front—of—me!" Hagrid pointed his umbrella at them once more, a jet of purple light sailing out the end and hitting Dudley. He let out a great yell, and when he turned on them, they could see a curly pigs tail poking out the back of his trousers. They all screamed and ran into the other room, taking care to slam the door behind them. Harry and Alex were giggling like mad.

"Meant to turn him into a pig," Hagrid admitted. "But I guess he was already so much like one, there wasn't much left to do."

"Guess he really is a pig in a wig," Alex joked nudging her brother in the side.

Then he turned to her, a goofy grin on his face despite his words, "I thought you said to never insult animals like that."

Hagrid cleared his throat. "Oh, uh, I would appreciate it if you don' let anythin' slip about this at Hogwarts. I'm technically not allowed ter do magic."

"Whatever for?" Alex pondered.

"I got expelled years ago. But Dumbledore, good man Dumbledore, found a way from me to stay. I've been the grounds keeper ever since."

"Why were you expelled," Harry asked.

"That's a story for another time," Hagrid replied, not looking either of them in the eye. "You two'd better get some rest, we've got a big day tomorrow. We'll be going to Diagon Alley in the morning to fetch yer school supplies."


	5. A Trip To London

Alex woke early the next day to the sound of tapping. Although awake, she kept her eyes shut tight. She had just had the best dream. She was certain it was a dream. In it, a giant arrived and told her and Harry they were famous wizards, and they would be attending a school of magic in the fall. It was a lovely dream while it lasted.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

That'll be Aunt Petunia rapping on the trap door to wake them up.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Suddenly, Harry seized her shoulder and shook her violently. "Alright I'm up!" She swatted him away, and sat up rubbing her eyes. When she could see clearly she realized she was in fact, in a shack at sea. And Hagrid peacefully dozed on the couch a few feet away. Alex turned to Harry, eyes wide with joy.

"It wasn't a dream?"

"It wasn't a dream," he confirmed, giving her an equally goofy grin.

They looked over to the dusty window where the tapping noise was coming from. An owl was perched outside, tapping smartly. Harry got up and opened the window to let it fly in, while Alex stretched and yawned, trying to wake herself up a bit more. The owl swooped over the couch, dropping a newspaper on Hagrid's head, and landing on the floor by his coat. The owl starting pecking at it, searching for something.

"Pay 'im," Hagrid grumbled, beginning to wake up himself, taking the newspaper from off his face. "He wants payment. Check the pockets." Alex reached over and started searching through the pockets, though it seemed like the coat was made of nothing but pockets. She finally found some coins, and held them in her hand looking them over curiously. "Give him five knuts."

"Knuts?"

"The little bronze ones."

Carefully she counted out five bronze coins and dropped them in a pouch tied around the owl's leg. Immediately after it flew through the window again.

"Righ' then," Hagrid said, standing up from the couch, picking his coat up with him. "Gotta get ter London. Lots to do today. Gotta get yer school supplies."

Alex turned a silver coin over in her hands, curiously. She could feel Harry's eyes, so she turned her gaze to meet his, and it suddenly hit her. Their hearts sank.

"Uh Hagrid..." Alex started, tentatively. "How are we supposed to pay for things? We haven't got any money."

"And you heard Uncle Vernon last night. He said he wouldn't pay for anything," Harry pointed out. "And you said our parents' house was destroyed."

Hagrid laughed a little to himself. "They didn't keep their gold in their house! It's all at the bank."

"Wizards have banks?" Alex wondered aloud. She supposed it made sense....

"Just one. Gringotts. It's run by goblins, so yeh'd be bloody mad tryin' to rob it. Best place in the world to keep anythin' safe, 'cept maybe besides Hogwarts. Speakin' of I've gotta be at Gringotts today anyway. Hogwarts business." He straightened his posture a bit with pride. "See Dumbledore trusts me to do important things fer him. Like gettin' you two."

The three of them walked outside, and made their way down to the shore. The boat Vernon rented the previous night was still there. The bottom was now filled with water from the storm last night. It was incredibly sunny today however.

"How did you get here?" Harry asked.

"Flew."

Alex and Harry shared a wide eyed look.

"We'll take the boat back to the mainland though. Not supposed ter use magic now that I've got yeh. Though wouldn' mind speedin' it up a bit." Hagrid waved his umbrella, giving them a sideways look. "But uh, would you mind not mentioning it to anyone back at Hogwarts?"

The twins shook their heads. "Mention what?" Alex said, a small smirk appeared on her face.

They climbed into the little boat, and Hagrid tapped the sides with the tip of his umbrella. The boat sped off through the water, cutting through the waves effortlessly. 

"You said you'd be mad to try and rob Gringotts. Why's that?" Harry asked.

"Spells, enchantments," he said, unfolding the newspaper. "Plus it's hundreds of miles under London, a labyrinth. Yeh'd get lost just looking, and if yeh did manage to get yer hands on summat, you'd probably die of hunger before yeh found yer way out again. Some even say there's dragons guardin' the high security vaults."

Hagrid began to leaf through the newspaper. The twins stayed quiet, as they had learned from Vernon to leave people alone when they did this.

They finally made it back to land, and hopped out of the boat, heading for the train station. The twins had to practically run to keep up with Hagrid's long strides. They kept getting a few stares as he would stop and point out something like a parking meter, and say rather loudly, "The things these muggles dream up."

"Did you say there were dragons in Gringotts?" Alex inquired.

"So they say. Crikey, I'd like a dragon."

"You'd like one?" Harry threw Alex a confused look. He somehow doubted they'd make very good house pets.

"Ever since I was prolly 'round yer age."

When they finally made it to the train station, Hagrid took a yellow envelope out of his coat and handed it to Alex to pay for train tickets. Something about "not understanding muggle money." Alex promptly handed it over to Harry. "I'm no good at maths, you've got it."

On the train, he asked the twins if they still had their letters. They each took out the envelopes, and opened them again to find pieces of parchment tucked inside they hadn't noticed before. It was a list of their school supplies.

"Can we get all this in London?" Alex asked, skeptical.

There was a glint of mischief in Hagrid's eyes when he spoke. "If yeh know where to look."

The twins had never been to London before. The Dursleys would make a trip every once and a while, but they were never allowed to come, usually left at Mrs. Figg's. This was all very new to them, but Hagrid seemed to know where he was going. Although, they didn't think he was much enjoying muggle transport. He complained rather loudly how slow the trains were going, and how small the seats were.

"Don't know how muggles do without magic," he muttered to himself as they climbed a broken escalator up to the streets. He was so large, he parted the crowds easily. All the twins had to do was keep up behind him. Looking around at all the shops though, nothing seemed as if it sold magic wands....

"Alex," Harry started suddenly, "You don't think this is all a joke do you?"

She thought about it for only a second before shaking her head. "If the Durlseys had a sense of humor, I might've said yes."

Although she had to admit some of the things Hagrid had told them were rather outlandish, such as underground banks with dragons in them, they couldn't help be feel like they could trust him.

They came upon a rather bleak looking building with dark brick and a wooden sign hanging above the entrance. It stuck out like a sore thumb, but the twins had a strange feeling that the three of them were the only ones who could see it. Passerby eyes would slide right over it as if it wasn't even there.

"Here we are. The Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."

He opened the door for them and they stepped in. For a famous place is was particularly dark and shabby. There was a group of old women in one corner, smoking and playing cards. A short man with a funny hat talked to the old bartender. The low chatter stopped for a moment upon their entering, before picking back up again. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid offering greetings and waving.

"The usual, Hagrid?" The bartender asked, wiping a cup off.

"Can't today. I'm on official Hogwarts business," He said beaming.

The bartender stopped what he was doing and blinked owlishly at the twins. "Good lord. Is that— "

The room fell silent again.

"Bless my soul." He walked out from behind the bar and shook their hands. "Harry and Alexandra Potter... what an honor. Welcome back!" The room filled with the screeching of chairs and everyone was up on their feet, swarming them. Suddenly, Alex and Harry were shaking hands with everybody.

"Doris Crockford, can't believe I'm meeting you two."

"So proud, Potters— "

"Always wanted to shake your hands."

"Delighted, I can't tell you enough— "

The twins shook hands again and again—Doris Crockford kept coming back for more. A thin, wiry young man found his way forward, looking nervous, one of his eyes twitching.

"Professor Quirrell!" Hagrid exclaimed.

"P-Potters," he stammered, grasping their hands briefly. "C-can't tell you how p-pleased I am to finally meet you."

"Professor? You teach magic. What sort?"

"D-defense ag-gainst the d-dark arts." He didn't seem entirely pleased about this. "N-not that you'll n-need it, eh P-Potters?" he laughed nervously.

The others wouldn't let him keep them for long though, pushing Quirrell out of the way. It took quite a few minutes to finally get away from them all. Somehow Hagrid made himself heard over the crowd. "Ought to be goin' lots ter do! They'll be needin' their school supplies."

Doris Crockford shook their hands once more and Hagrid led the twins out a back door into a walled courtyard. The only things back here were two trashcans. "Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was trembling teh meet yeh two."

"Is he always like that?"

"Stuttering, and nervous?"

"Oh yeah. Poor bloke's seen quite a bit in his line of work, defense against the dark arts. Say he met vampires, hags—not been quite the same. Scared of his students, scared of his own subject."

The twins' minds were swimming with questions.

"Vampires?"

"Hags?"

But Hagrid wasn't listening. He was too busy counting bricks on the wall. "Two up...or was it three... three up... two across." He tapped a brick on the wall a few times with the end of his umbrella. At first nothing happened, but soon after the bricks began to move, opening up a hole in the wall. They formed into an archway that revealed a twisting cobbled street that led out of sight.

"Welcome, to Diagon Alley."


	6. Gringotts

As the three of them walked up the cobble stone street, the twins wished they had another set of eyes and more time to stop and look at everything. Alex had made the mistake of saying "Pinch me I'm dreaming," while gawking at the shops. Harry of course, promptly pinched her arm in response.

"Enough lookin' around. We'll be back, but we gotta stop at Gringotts first," Said Hagrid, steering them away from the owl emporium. As they continued up the street, the twins saw a group of kids around their age with their noses pressed up against a window that had broomsticks in the display. "Nimbus two-thousand—fastest ever— "

Alex and Harry peered around as they walked. It was the most colorful and lively street they'd ever walked down. There were shops selling all sorts of things from robes, to telescopes and globes of the moon, rolls of parchment that could be seen stacked up in windows...

"Gringotts." They stopped in front of a large pristine white building with columns.

When they walked in through the towering double doors, Alex leaned towards Hagrid and asked, "Is that—"

"Yep." Goblins walked all about the room, leading wizards and witches alike to rooms off of the main hall, or exchanging coins over tall counter tops. They stood just a bit more than a head shorter than Alex and Harry, with clever looking faces and pointed beards.

The twins couldn't help but gawk at their surroundings. Everything gleamed white and there was gold trim on the columns inside. The ceiling was vaulted so high; Alex was sure it must've been 50 feet tall at least.

Hagrid lead them up to one of the counters where the goblins sat atop high stools.

"We're here ter take some money out of the Potter's safe."

The goblin leaned over the counter and peered down at the twins with a frown. "And do Mister and Miss Potter have their key?" he asked, his voice like gravel.

"Got it here somewhere." Hagrid started emptying his pockets, taking out the most peculiar items, before finally holding up a small copper key and handing it to the goblin. He inspected it closely.

"Seems to be in order."

"Oh an' another thing." Hagrid took out a small folded piece of paper and handed it over as well. "Tha's a letter from Dumbledore about the You-Know-What in vault seven-hundred-thirteen." The twins looked over to a goblin sitting on the right weighing rubies on a bronze scales After reading over the note the goblin nodded abruptly. "Very well."

Hagrid gathered his things up once more as another goblin appeared next to them. He led them down a corridor off of the main hall. Alex expecting more marble, was a bit surprised when they were met with dark stone. It reminded her of a cave.

"What's the You-Know-What?" Harry asked Hagrid as they climbed into a small cart. It was connected to a rail.

"Can't tell yeh that. Top secret. More than my jobs worth ter tell yeh."

The cart whisked them off into the dark. Torches lined the walls, but it was still rather dim. The goblin, Alex noticed, wasn't steering, but the cart seemed to know where it was going. Alex tried to count the turns—left, right, right—but got lost trying to keep track. The wind whipped through Alex's hair, and soon all she could think about was how awful if would be trying to get the tangles out later. Harry meanwhile, was trying to keep his eyes open, despite the cold wind stinging them.

The cart veered out over the rail into a ginormous cavern. They could no longer see the ground below them. Harry thought he saw a burst of fire off to their left, and turned to see if it was a dragon, but—too late. The cart was moving fast. Large stalactites and stalagmites lined the cavern.

"What's the difference between a stalactite and a stalagmite?" Harry wondered aloud. Alex shrugged and they turned to Hagrid who was looking rather green. "Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it. Don' ask me anymore questions right now."

The cart finally came to a stop, much to Hagrid's liking. He did not seem to get along well with the cart ride. The goblin hopped out of the cart and walked a few feet down a platform. He took out the little copper key and inserted it into the lock. When the vault opened, Harry and Alex gasped.

There were piles of gold coins, mounds of silver, and stacks of bronze.

Hagrid smiled down at them. "All yers."

And it was. All theirs.

Hagrid helped them gather come coins into a bag. "Should last yeh a couple o' terms. We'll keep the rest safe fer yeh."

They climbed back into the cart. "Could you go a bit slower this time?" Hagrid asked, already looking a bit dismal.

"One speed only."

Then they sped off into the dark again. Alex peered over the side, trying to get a look at the bottom, but Harry pulled her back in, worried she might fall out.

When they stopped again, they had arrived outside of Vault 713. It looked different than the others, and it had no key hole. The goblin ran a long crooked finger over the door and it just melted away. "If anybody but a gringotts goblin tried to do that, they'd get sucked through the door and trapped inside," he explained.

"How often do you check to see if anyone's in there?" Alex asked.

"Once about every ten years," he replied with a nasty grin.

The twins peered in, expected jewels at least, but the only thing in the whole vault was a small grubby looking package in the center of the floor. Hagrid reached in, picked it up and stashed it in his coat. The twins were dying to know what was inside, but knew better than to ask again.

"Don't talk on the way back," Hagrid told them. "It's best if I keep me mouth shut.


	7. Back to School Shopping but Make It Magic

After another wild ride in the Gringotts bank, the trio walked out into the sunlight blinking. Hagrid, who was particularly grateful to be on solid ground again, looked even worse in the daylight. He led them to the outside of a robe's shop, Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. They stood before the window display, in which stood two mannequins draped in fancy looking robes.

"Do yeh mind if I stop by The Leaky Cauldron for a lil pick-me-up? I hate those ruddy Gringotts carts."

The twins told Hagrid they didn't mind and headed into the shop. Madam Malkin was a short witch dressed in velvety, mauve robes. "Hogwarts, dears?" she asked them. They nodded, and she started to lead them through the shop. "I've got another young man being fitting right now." Alex couldn't help but reach her hand out to touch the robes hanging on the racks as they passed. Some were silky, others were velvety, not unlike the one Malkin wore.

When they had made it to the back, they stopped by a counter top where Malkin grabbed a pad of paper. The measuring tape draped over her shoulders flew into the air and started measuring Alex's arms and shoulders. Madam Malkin looked them over, taping a pencil to her chin. "Twins?"

A short nod from each of them answered her question. "Right then, I'll just take one measurement, and write it twice. You both look to be the same." Alex frowned slightly. "Well come with me then." She led them into the backroom, separated from the showroom by a curtain which hung open offering full view of the shop to the back. She had Alex stand atop a foot stool. Harry leaned against a nearby wall, and watched Malkin work, making faces at Alex. A few feet away stood a blonde boy with a pale face whilst another witch pinned up his long black robes.

"Hello. Hogwarts too?" he inquired, conversationally.

"Yes." Alex said.

"My father's next door buying my books. After this I'm going to see if I can convince him to buy me a racing broom. Technically first years aren't supposed to have them, but I don't see why not. I think I might try to smuggle mine in." The twins shared a look and felt strongly reminded of Dudley.

"Have either of you got a broom?"

"No," Harry spoke this time.

"Play quidditch?"

They shared another look. Alex raised her eyebrow quizzically, while Harry shrugged. "No."

"I do. Father says it'd be a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house. Do you know yours yet?"

"No." The two of them were feeling increasingly stupider by the minute.

"Of course, one can't know for sure, but I know I'll be in Slytherin. My whole family were Slytherins. Could you imagine being Hufflepuff? I think I'd leave. Wouldn't you?"

Neither of them said anything.

"I say look at that man!" the pale boy said. Harry got up from the wall and looked out to the front of the store like the boy and Alex were. Hagrid stood outside the shop, smiling at the twins, pointing to two ice cream cones on his hand to show he couldn't come in.

"That's Hagrid," Harry responded, grinning, glad to know something the boy didn't.

"He works at Hogwarts." Alex said matter-of-factly.

"I've heard of him," the boy said. "Isn't he like some kind of servant."

"Gamekeeper," Alex corrected, becoming irritated again.

"Yes, I've heard he's some kind of savage. He lives in a hut and gets drunk every now and then and tries to do magic before lighting himself on fire."

"I think he's brilliant," Alex said shortly.

"Oh? Are you two with him? Where are your parents?"

"Dead." Harry answered shortly.

"Oh, sorry," he replied not sounding very sorry at all. "Were they our kind, though?"

"A witch and wizard if that's what you mean."

"You know," the boy continued, with his nose in the air. "I don't think they should let the other sort into the school. We should keep magic in the old families. What's your surname?"

"You're all done dear," Madam Malkin said to Alex. She stepped down, grateful to have an out be done with that conversation. She glanced at Harry, and knew he felt the same from the expression on his face.

"Well I suppose I'll see you two at Hogwarts."

The twins walked out of the store into the bright sunlight again, and walked with Hagrid up the street, stopping at a bench to eat their ice creams. The two of them were rather quiet.

"Wha's a matter with you two?" Hagrid asked. 

Alex shrugged, and continued to look at her shoelaces. Harry spoke up tentatively, "Hagrid, what's quidditch?"

"Blimey! I keep forgettin' how much yeh don' know."

"Don't make us feel worse." Then Harry launched into a rant about the particularly snooty boy from the robes shop. "And then he said people from muggle families shouldn't be let in."

"Yer not from a muggle family. Oh if he'd have known who yeh were—if his parents are wizards there's no doubt he's grown up around yer names. And the muggle thing is codswallop. Look at yer mum. She was one of the brightest witches of her age, and she was muggleborn."

"So what is quidditch?" Harry asked again.

"Our sport. Like soccer. Everyone in the wizard world follows it. There's lots 'o rules, to many to try to explain."

"And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"

"Houses at the school. There's four. Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff, which are a lot 'o duffers."

"I bet that'll be Alex's house then," Harry smirked, elbowing Alex in the arm. She smacked him lightly in return. "Shut up."

"Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin. That's the house You-Know-Who was in."

"Really?"

"He went to Hogwarts?"

"Years an' years ago."

After they finished their ice creams, they went to Flourish and Blotts to get the twins their textbooks. The shop was wonderfully cozy, with floor to ceiling bookshelves, filled with books of all different sizes and colors; some had silky covers, and others leather-bound. Hagrid had to tell Harry to put a book back on the shelf (Curses and Counter-Curses by Professor Vindictus Viridian).

"I was trying to figure out how to jinx Dudley."

"Not that it's a bad idea, but yer not allowed ter use magic in the muggle world. Besides yeh haven' had enough training in magic ter cast any of them curses. They're far too advanced fer yeh right now."

After getting all the necessary books, they next visited the Apothecary, which was interesting enough to make up for the smell. Harry told Alex it reminded him of how Mrs. Figg's house smelled. Shelves were lined with jars of herbs, dried roots, and bright powders. In the corner was a barrel of beetle eyes with a sign that read "5 knuts a scoop."

They walked back out into the street, and Hagrid started checking things off of their list.

"All that's left is yer wands, and I haven't gotten you two a birthday present yet..."

The twins shared a wide-eyed expression, and turned to Hagrid, beginning to feel their faces go red.

"You don't have to—"

"Honestly—"

"I know that. But that's what makes it a gift. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer mail an' everythin'."

Twenty minutes later, the trio was walking out of the Eeylops Owl Emporium. Harry carried a large cage with a small snowy owl sleeping inside. The twins sounded a lot like Quirrell as they stuttered their thanks.

"Don' mention it," Hagrid told them kindly. "Can't imagine the Dursley's ever gave yeh much presents on yer birthday. All that's left now is Ollivanders fer yer wands."

This was the part they had held in anticipation all day. They were going to get magic wands.

It was the last shop on the street, narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters on the sign outside read Ollivanders Makers of Fine Wands Since 382 BC. They walked inside, and somewhere from the depths of the shop rang a tinkling bell. It was dusty and quiet, and the twins felt as though they had just walked into a very strict library. Suddenly Alex felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

"Good afternoon," a soft voice said. The twins jumped, and faced the counter, where now stood an old man with pale eyes. "Harry and Alexandra Potter. I thought I'd be seeing you two very soon. Yes, you've got your mothers eyes. I remember when she bought her wand here like it was yesterday. Ten and a quarter inches, willow, quite swishy, great for charms work."

He walked out from behind the counter. "Your father on the other hand favored a wand made of mahogany, eleven inches, pliable, a bit more powerful and excellent for transfiguration. Well I say he favored it, but the wand chooses the wizard."

Mr. Ollivander had no idea what personal space was, Alex thought to herself, as they were almost nose to nose, and she could see herself reflected in his sliver eyes. He reached out and tapped the scar on her forehead, and the turned to Harry and did the same. "I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did that...had I known that day what it was going to do when I sent it out into the world...." He shook his head, and much to the twins relief, noticed Hagrid standing in the corner.

"Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid, it's good to see you again. Oak, sixteen inches. It was a good wand."

"Yes sir, it was." He agreed.

"Though I suppose they had to snap it when you were expelled," he noted sternly.

"Yeah...but I've still got the pieces," Hagrid said brightly.

"But you're not using them?"

"No sir." Alex noticed Hagrid gripped his pink umbrella tightly as he spoke.

"Hmm...Well, now!" Ollivander exclaimed, turning back to the twins. "Ladies first."

Alex nudged her brother. "You heard him Harry."

"Ha, ha."

"Ms. Potter, which is your wand-hand?" Ollivander inquired.

"Uh, I'm left-handed." He started taking measurements, and Alex was reminded of Malkin's earlier in the day. First he measured shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, and then shoulder to floor.

"Every wand has a powerful magic substance in its core; unicorn hair, phoenix tail feathers, dragon heartstrings. No two Ollivanders wands are the same. And of course, you'll never get quite as good results with another wizard's wand."

As he was saying this, Alex realized the tape measure as doing its own thing. "That's enough!" Ollivander called from behind the counter, and the tape fell to the floor. He climbed a crooked ladder and started pulling several thin boxes from the shelves that lined the back wall of the shop.

He hopped down from the ladder, and handed Alex a wand. "Beech wood, dragon heartstring core, nine inches, flexible. Give it a wave."

Alex, feeling foolish, began to raise the wand in the air, only for it to be snatched up again by Ollivander.

"No, no...ah, how about this one. Maple, phoenix feather, ten inches." Again, snatched up again almost immediately. Alex wasn't quite sure what Mr. Ollivander was looking for, but it seemed the more boxes he took from the shelves, the happier he was. The pile of tried wands was ever growing on the counter top.

"Tricky customer, eh? I wonder—yes, why not—unusual, but...." He ran his fingertips, feather light over the boxes, before stopping on a tattered grey box and plucking it from the wall. "Pine with phoenix tail feather core, twelve inches."

Alex took the wand, a light feeling forming in her chest. She gave it a swish and raised it above her head, brilliant light filled the shop.

"Oh bravo! Yes, very good Ms. Potter! How curious...how very curious..."

"Sorry, but what's curious?" Alex questioned.

Ollivander disappeared behind the counter again, muttering to himself. He reappeared holding another box in hand, presenting it to Harry this time. "I remember ever wand I've ever sold. Every single one. It so happens that the phoenix who's tail feather is in your wand, Ms. Potter gave two others—just two. One, is in this wand right here— holly, eleven inches. Mr. Potter if you please?"

Harry carefully picked up the wand from the box, and waved it in front of him. A shower of red sparks shot out, making light dance across the dusty walls. Hagrid clapped Harry on the back, and grinned down at the two of them.

Alex spoke up, "Mr. Ollivander. You said the phoenix gave two other feathers. What about the other one?"

"You don't miss a trick, Ms. Potter. It's curious you two should be destined for those wands when their brother—why, it gave you those scars."

Harry froze on the spot.

Alex inspected her wand with horrified curiosity.

"Thirteen and a half inches, yew. Curious how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, don't forget. I think we must expect great things from you two. After all He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things—terrible yes, but great."

The twins shivered, despite there being no draft, and locked eyes. They weren't quite sure they liked Ollivander much.

................................................

The twins didn't speak at all as they made their way back through Diagon Alley, and the Leaky Cauldron (now empty). The hardly noticed the stares they got on the Underground because of their funny shaped packages, and the snowy owl asleep in its cage resting on Harry's lap.

They walked out into Paddington Station, only realizing where they were when Hagrid tapped them both on the shoulder. "There's still a bit 'o time before yer train comes. Let's find somewhere to sit an' wait."

As they sat on a bench, the twins kept looking around. Everything looked so strange to them somehow...

"Yeh alright, you two? Yer very quiet."

They had just had the best birthday of their lives, and yet—

"Everyone thinks we're special," Harry said suddenly. "All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell—"

"Mr. Ollivander," Alex chimed in. "But we don't know any magic. How can they expect great things from us?"

"We don't..." Harry frowned at Alex, who was frowning at the ground. "We don't even remember what we're famous for. We don't know what happened the night Vol-sorry, I mean the night our parents died...."

Hagrid looked down at them with a kind smile. "Don' you worry. You'll get the hang of things fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts. You'll be fine. Just be yerselves. I know yeh've been singled out, and that's hard, but yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts. I did—still do, 'smatter of fact."

Hagrid helped them get onto the train that would take them back to the Dursley's, and handed them a small envelope. "Yer tickets fer Hogwarts. First o' September—King's Cross Station—it's all on the tickets. If any problems arise with the Dursley's, just send me a letter with yer owl. She'll know where to find me. See yeh soon."

As the train pulled out of the station, the two of them tried to see Hagrid off. They pressed their noses to the window, but they blinked and he was gone.


	8. Platform Nine and Three-Quarters

The last month the twins spent with the Dursleys wasn't exactly the most fun. Dudley was so scared of them now; he couldn't stand to be in the same room as them. Every time one of them would enter a room, he would bolt from the room as if his feet were on fire. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't shut them in the attic anymore, or order them around, or even yell at them—in fact they didn't even speak to either of them. It was as if neither of them existed. Petunia and Vernon acted as if every chair where Alex and Harry sat was completely vacant. And although this was an improvement from the way things used to be, it got to be a little depressing sometimes.

The twins kept to their room most days. After coming home from Diagon Alley, they tossed around ideas to name their owl. It took two days of arguing before they finally settled on the name Hedwig, which they had found in A History of Magic. Their schoolbooks were rather interesting, and they often would read them late into the night, while Hedwig would come and go as she pleased, swooping through the window.

Harry had taped a piece of paper to the wall, and the two of them would tick off the days until September first. On the last day of August, they decided to try and ask Uncle Vernon if he would take them to the station the next day.

They went down the stairs and into the living room, where the Dursleys all sat watching a quiz show on the television. Alex stood behind Harry in the doorway, nudging him to speak. Harry cleared his throat, and Dudley screamed before scurrying into the kitchen to hide.

"Um excuse me, Uncle Vernon," Harry started quietly. Vernon grunted in response, so he supposed he was listening. "We were wondering if you could give us a lift to King's Cross station tomorrow morning, so Alex and I can get to Hogwarts?" Another grunt. The twins supposed this meant yes.

"Uh thanks." They turned to go, but Vernon spoke up, stopping them again.

"Where even is this school?"

That was when Harry and Alex realized they had no clue. "Dunno." Alex pulled her ticket out of her pocket to look it over. "It just says to take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven," she said.

Petunia and Vernon started.

"Platform what?"

"Nine and three-quarters. Says so right here on the ticket." She waved it in the air.

"Don't talk rubbish, there's no such platform. Barking mad, those lot. You'll see. Just you wait. We'll take you to King's Cross. We're going to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother."

................................................

The following morning, they woke up at five in the morning, but were too excited and nervous to fall back asleep. They got up and put a pair of jeans on, not wanting to walk to the train station in their robes—they'd change on the train. Then they grabbed their lists and double checked to make sure they had everything, and that Hedwig was safe and secure. The sun was barely up, so they played a game of chess while they waited for the rest of the house to rise.

Two hours later, their enormous trunks had been loaded into the back of the Dursleys car. Aunt Petunia had convinced Dudley to sit in the back with Alex and Harry. They arrived at King's Cross at half past ten. Vernon had thrown the trunks onto a cart, and even pushed it for them. They thought it was odd he was being so kind, until they reached the platform and Uncle Vernon faced them with a nasty grin.

"Well there you go," he said almost triumphantly, "Platform nine—platform ten. Yours should be somewhere in the middle, but it looks like they haven't built it yet."

The twins looked in dismay at the big plastic number nine over one platform, and the big plastic ten above the opposite.

"Have a nice term," Uncle Vernon sneered. Alex and Harry watched as the Dursleys got back into their car and drove away laughing.

"Harry, what are we going to do?" Alex said frantically. They were starting to attract a few stares because of Hedwig.

"We'll have to ask someone for help." She nodded, and they pushed their cart through the crowd until they found a guard. They didn't dare mention the platform number as the guard hadn't even heard of Hogwarts and seemed to get annoyed when they couldn't tell him what part of the country it was in. Getting desperate, they asked for the train that left at eleven, but the guard told them there was no such train. He strode away irritated, muttering about time wasters.

"Alex." Harry tugged on her sleeve, and pointed to the clock on the wall. There was ten minutes until the train was supposed to leave.

"Don't panic," she said to Harry, though it was more for herself. Any sensible person might panic, Alex thought to herself. They were stranded at the station with a pocket full of wizard money, and no idea how to get to their train. Her thoughts were interrupted by a passing family, and she caught the words, "—packed with muggles, of course –"

She shoved her brother, and nodded her head towards the group, which consisted of a plump women and five children all with flaming red hair. They were pushing carts just like theirs, and perched atop one of them an owl. They started pushing their cart, following them back to platforms nine and ten.

"Alright, Percy, you first." What look like the oldest boy, marched towards platforms nine and ten. The twins watched, wide eyed careful not to miss a thing, but a crowd walked between them, and by the time they passed, the boy had vanished.

"Fred, you next," she motioned another boy forward.

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," he told her. "Honestly woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"

"Sorry George, dear."

"Only joking mum. I am Fred."

Alex started smacking Harry in the arm again, and he batted her hand away. "What? What is it?" She pointed at the two boys who she supposed were Fred and George. "Look, twins. Just like us!" She beamed at her brother, and he shook his head, failing to suppress a smile. They turned back, and watched as they walked briskly towards the platforms. They almost collided with the barrier and then—they were gone?

The twins pushed their cart up to the plump woman.

"Excuse us," Alex started, catching her attention.

"Hello dears. First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new two." She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons, a tall gangly boy, with freckles and big feet, and a long nose.

"Yes," said Alex. "The thing is— the thing is, I don't—well we don't know how to –"

"How to get onto the platform?" She asked kindly. The twins nodded.

"Not to worry. All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if your nervous. Go on, go before Ron."

The twins pushed their trolley around to face the barrier. It looked like a fairly solid brick wall. The two of them glanced at one another before gripping the handle of the trolley tightly and starting to walk towards it quickly. Alex was almost waiting for the crash—Harry knew they wouldn't be able to stop now—the cart was out of their control—all they could do was hold on and hope for the best. They were about a foot away from the wall now. The twins braced themselves—

But the crash never came. They opened their eyes, astonished by their surroundings. They seemed to be on a completely different platform, bustling with people. A scarlet steam engine waited and a sign hanging above read The Hogwarts Express. Alex turned and looked up at the barrier behind them which had turned into an iron archway. Nine and three-quarters. They had made it.


	9. The Hogwarts Express

The first few carriages of the train were already packed with students. Some were hanging out of windows to talk to their families, others fighting over seats. Smoke from the engine drifted above the scene.

The twins began to make their way down the train craning to see if they could find a pair of empty seats. There, near the end of the train they found a totally empty compartment. Alex brought Hedwig up first, then turned to try to help Harry heave their trunks up through the train door. They could barely move the first one, even with the combined effort. They had managed to get it up a step before dropping it again.

"Want a hand?" It was one of the red-haired boys from the barrier.

Alex was nodding vigorously. "Yes, please," Harry said.

"Oy, Fred! C'mere!"

With the other twins help, their trunks were finally put away under the seats of the compartment.

Alex and Harry thanked them, Harry pushing sweaty hair out of his eyes. Alex searched her pockets for a hair tie.

"What's that?" One of the red-haired twins asked suddenly, pointing at Harry's forehead.

"Blimey," the other said. "Are you—?"

"He is, aren't you? And you?" The first twin pointed at Alex who knitted her eyebrows together confused. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail in attempts to tame it some.

"What?" Alex wondered.

"Harry and Alexandra Potter," they chorused.

"Oh them," said Harry. "I mean yes, that's us."

"Though I prefer just Alex."

The pair of redheads gawked at them, and the twins felt themselves going about as scarlet at the train. To their relief a woman's voice came calling for them.

"Fred! George! Are you there?"

"Coming mom!"

The boys gave the twins a last look before hopping off the train. Alex debated taking her hair out again to hide her scar, despite the prospect of her sweaty bangs being in her face again. Her and Harry sat down by the window, and tried to stealthily watch the family. Their mother had just taken out a handkerchief.

"Ron, you've got something on your nose." She started trying to wipe his face off.

"Aw, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins. 

"Shut up!" Ron protested, wiggling away from his mother. She huffed at her son. "Where's Percy?" she asked suddenly, her attention shifting.

"He's coming now."

The oldest boy came strutting through the crowd, already changed into his robes, a shiny badge pinned on his chest.

"Can't stay long, Mother," he explained, "I'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves—"

"Oh are you a prefect, Percy?" One of the twins yelled with what Alex suspected to be feigned surprise. "You should have said something we had no idea."

"Hang on," the other twin chimed in, "I think I recall him mentioning it once—"

"Or twice—"

"A minute—"

"All summer—"

"Oh shut up!" Percy the Prefect objected.

Their mom scolded the twins before turning back to Percy. "Alright dear, well, have a good term—send me an owl when you get there." When he had left once more, she rounded on the twins again.

"You two better behave yourselves this year. If I get even one letter telling me you've—blown up a toilet or—"

"Blown up a toilet? We've never done that."

"Great idea though, thanks mom."

"That's not funny. And look after Ron."

"Don't worry, ickle Ronnie-kins is safe with us."

"Shut up!" Ron said again. He was almost as tall as the twins, and his nose was still pink from where his mother had tried to rub the dirt off.

One of the twins started talking again, "Hey mom you'll never guess who we met on the train!"

The twins leaned back from the window, and stared at each other wide-eyed, hoping they couldn't be seen anymore.

"Those black haired kids near us in the station?"

"What about them?"

"They're Harry and Alexandra Potter!" The two of them heard a little girls voice say.

"Oh mum can I go on the train to see them! Mother, please!"

"You've already seen them, Ginny, and they're not something to goggle at like in a museum. Are they really, Fred? How do you know?"

"Asked them. Saw their scars. They're really there—like lightning!"

"Poor dears, no wonder they were alone. They were so polite."

"Never mind that, do you think that remember what You-Know-Who looks like?"

Their mother snapped, "I forbid any of you to ask them that! Because that's just what they need reminding of on their first day of school."

"Alright, keep your hair on."

A sharp whistle sounded through the station, and the woman started ushering her kids towards the train. They leaned out of the window to say their goodbyes, and their younger sister began to cry.

"Oh Ginny, don't."

"Yeah chin up, we'll send you loads of owls."

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat."

"George."

"Only joking, Mom."

As they train began to pull out of the station, Alex and Harry looked out their window to see the boys' sister half crying, half laughing, chase after until the train gathered too much speed. They watched the station with the girl and her mother disappear from view.

The twins felt quite excited. It was all becoming very real now. They had no idea where they were going, only that it had to be infinitely better than what they were leaving behind.

The door of their compartment slide open to reveal the youngest red-haired boy.

"Anyone else sitting in here?" He asked, a bit awkwardly. "Everywhere else is full."

The twins shook their heads, and he sat down on Alex's right. He glanced at Harry, before averting his eyes to the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Harry noticed the mark was still on his nose.

The door opened again. This time it was the other twins.

"Hey Ron. Listen, we're heading to the middle of the train. Lee Jordan's got a live tarantula down there."

"Right," Ron mumbled.

"Harry, Alex," The other twin spoke up, "Did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. Well, see you later then." And with that, they left, shutting the door behind them.

"Are you two really Harry and Alexandra Potter?" Ron blurted out.

They nodded.

"I prefer to go by Alex though."

"Oh, see I thought it might've been another one of Fred and George's jokes. Have you really got—you know..." He pointed to his own forehead.

Harry pushed his bangs back, and Alex turned to face him so he could see the other side of her face.

"Wicked... so that's where You-Know-Who--?"

"Yeah but we don't remember it."

"Nothing?" Ron asked, clearly intrigued.

"Not a bit," Alex agreed. "Well, except—"

"A lot of green light," Harry finished. "But nothing else."

"Wow." He looked between the two of them for a moment, before averting his gaze out the window again, as if realizing he was staring. Alex leaned forward into his line of sight and asked "Are all of your family wizards?" They were just as curious about Ron as he was about them.

"Oh yeah, I think so anyway. My mom's got a second cousin who's an accountant? But we don't talk about him much."

He must know loads of magic already, the twins thought. He must have one of those old wizarding families the pale boy was talking about in the robes shop.

"I heard you two went to live with muggles. What are they like?"

"Awful," Harry answered with an eye roll.

"Well not all of them," Alex corrected. "But our Aunt, Uncle, and cousin are."

"Wish we had three wizard brothers—"

"Or sisters." Alex mentally shuddered at the thought of having to deal with more than one Harry. He made a face at her.

"Five brothers actually, and one younger sister," Ron said, leaning back in the seat to look at the ceiling. "I'm the sixth in the family to go to Hogwarts, which means I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie already left, and they were Head Boy and Quidditch captain. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still manage to get good marks, and everyone likes them. I'm expected to do just as good, but even if I do, they've already done it. And everything of mine, was passed down from all of them. Ginny's the only one who really ever gets anything new, because she's a girl. I've got Bill's robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's rat."

He reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out a rat, who was asleep.

"His name is Scabbers, and he's right useless. He just sleeps all the time. Percy got an owl because he's a prefect, but they couldn't aff—I mean I got Scabbers instead." He looked out the window again, his ears tinted pink.

Alex met Harry's eyes and shrugged. They didn't see anything wrong with not being able to afford another owl. They had never had any money in their life up until a month ago. Alex explained this to Ron, and even told him how she never got anything new just because she was a girl.

"I get hand-me-downs from my cousin Dudley. Harry too. Though, I think I make it work." She glanced down at her outfit. Sweatpants and a worn out black t-shirt.

This seemed to cheer Ron up a bit.

"Until Hagrid told us, we didn't know anything about the wizarding world or our parents or Voldemort-"

Ron's gasp cut Harry off.

Alex tilted her head to look at the boy next to her in wonderment. "What's up?"

"You said his name!" He gawked at Harry, seeming a bit impressed under the terror. "I would've thought you two, out of anyone—"

"Sorry, we never learned you shouldn't say the name. See what I meant though? Alex and I still have loads to learn. I bet...I bet we'll be the worst in class." Alex wanted to say something witty in response to her brother, but she couldn't. Because it was something she worried about too.

"You won't be," Ron assured them brightly. "There's loads of people who come from muggle families, and they learn fast enough."

Around an hour later, a smiling woman opened their door, revealing a trolley filled with the strangest looking sweets the twins had ever seen.

"Anything off the trolley dears?" she asked. Alex and Harry, who hadn't had breakfast leapt to their feet. They bought several pastries, and just about anything that looked good. Harry offered Ron a pumpkin pasty, and wouldn't take no for an answer. Alex picked up a funny shaped box, and nudged Ron. "What's this?"

"Oh those are Chocolate Frogs. They're not really frogs, though. It's just a spell. It's the card you want anyway. Every box has a card of a famous witch or wizard at the bottom."

She opened the box tentatively, and out hopped the chocolate frog. It didn't surprise her entirely, however; the twins were finding not much was very surprising anymore. She pulled out the card from the bottom of the box.

"Who've you got?" Ron asked. "I'm missing Agrippa and Ptolemy."

She looked down at a man's face. He had silvery hair, and wore half-moon spectacles. She flipped it over and read aloud,

Albus Dumbledore  
Currently Headmaster of Hogwarts  
Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on Alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.

When Alex turned the card back over, his face had disappeared.

"He's gone!"

"Well you can't expect him to hang around all day," Ron told her, as if this was a given. "He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again. I've got like six of her. Do you want it Alex? You can start collecting."

She took the card, and looked it over. "Just so you know, people stay put in pictures in the muggle world."

Ron seemed amazed by this. "They don't move at all? Weird."


	10. A Hop, Skip and a Train Ride

The country side was, at this point, flying past the windows of the train, steadily becoming more and more untamed. The fields became wild forests with twisting rivers.

A knock came from the compartment door. It opened revealing a round-faced boy who was looking absolutely miserable.

"Sorry, but you haven't seen a toad around here, have you?" he asked.

As the three of them shook their heads no, he cried, "I've lost him!"

"He'll turn up," Alex said, trying to reassure him.

"Yes, well, if you see him...." The boy closed the door again, and sulked away.

"I don't know what he's so bothered about," Ron said. "If I'd have brought a toad, I would've tried to lose it right away. Of course I can't talk, I've got Scabbers. I tried to turn him yellow with a spell once, to make him more interesting. Here, watch."

He pulled a battered look wand out, but just as soon as he raised it in the air, the door opened again. The boy was back, but this time with a girl. She had lots of bushy hair, and spoke with a bit of a bossy tone.

"Have any of you seen a toad around? Neville's lost one."

"We've just told him we haven't seen it," Ron replied, already feeling a bit annoyed by her presence.

But the girl wasn't really listening. She was staring at the wand in his hand.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Well, let's see it then." She sat down in the spot next to Harry.

"Er—okay."

He cleared his throat and raised his wand once more.

Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow,  
Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow.

He waved his wand at the rat, but nothing happened. Scabbers lay still asleep on the seat between him and Alex.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" the girl spoke again. "Well it's not a very good one is it? I've tried a few simple spells myself and they've all worked for me. Nobody in my family is magic, so it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so please, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is I've heard—I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough—I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, and you are?"

She spoke rather quickly, and Alex was half convinced she didn't need to breathe as much as a normal person.

Harry and Ron shared a wide-eyed look, and Harry was relieved that he wasn't the only one who hadn't memorized the course material.

"Ron Weasley."

"Harry Potter."

"Alex Potter."

"Are you really?" said Hermione. "I know all about you two, of course—I got a few extra books for background reading. You're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."

"Are we?" Harry asked, incredulous.

"You didn't know?" Hermione looked between the two of them. "If it was me, I'd want to know everything I could. Do any of you know what house you'll be in? I'm hoping for Gryffindor; Dumbledore himself was in it, and it sounds like the best house, from what I've heard, though Ravenclaw doesn't sound so bad either. Anyway, we'd better go keep looking for Neville's toad. You three had better change into your robes, we'll be nearing the school soon." She looked at Ron one last time and said, "You've got dirt on your nose, by the way. Did you know?"

And with that she left.

"Whatever house I get, I hope she's not in it," Ron muttered, throwing his wand into his trunk. Alex stifled a laugh. "Stupid spell—George gave it to me. Bet he knew it was a dud."

"What house are you brothers in?" Harry asked.

"Gryffindor. Mom and Dad were in it too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. Imagine if they put me in Slytherin."

"That's the hose Vol-sorry, You-Know-Who was in?" Harry had much preferred being able to say Voldemort's name without having to worry.

"Yeah," Ron said, leaning back in the seat again, looking somber.

"Y'now," Alex started suddenly. "I think the ends of Scabber's whiskers are a bit lighter."

"What do your two older brothers do, now that they're out of Hogwarts?" Harry inquired, wondering what life was like for a wizard after school.

"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts. Have you heard about Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet—someone tried to rob a high security vault."

"Really? What happened to them?"

"Nothing! They haven't been caught, that's why it's all over the news. My dad reckons it was a dark wizard of some sort, powerful enough to get into the bank. But they didn't even take anything either, that's what really odd." Ron changed the subject, in attempts to lighten the mood. "So, what's your quidditch team?"

"Oh, we don't know any," Alex admitted.

"What!" Ron sputtered. "Oh you two wait, it's the best game in the world." He launched into explaining everything to them, about the four balls used, and the positions of the seven players, describing games he'd been to with his brothers, and the racing broom he'd get if he ever got the money.

Just as he was taking them through the finer points of the game, the door slid open again. But this time it wasn't Neville, or Hermione Granger. Three boys entered, and the twins instantly recognized the one in the middle as the pale boy from Madam Malkin's. He studied the two of them with a greater interest than he had shown back in Diagon Alley.

"Is it true?" He questioned. "They're saying all down the train that Harry and Alexandra Potter are in this compartment." Alex turned her head to stare out the window. "So it's you two, isn't it?"

"Yes," Harry answered. Alex shot him a glare out of the corner of her eyes, wishing he hadn't said anything. But Harry wasn't paying attention to his sister, rather he was looking over the other two heavyset boys. They stood on either side of the pale boy, making them seem like bodyguards almost.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," the boy said carelessly, noticing Harry's gaze. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Ron gave a short cough, as if trying to cover up a laugh. Alex bit her bottom lip, in attempts not to laugh with him. She found his laughter to be contagious.

"Think my name's funny do you?" Malfoy sneered down at Ron. "No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasley's have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." He turned back to the twins. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." He held out his hand to Harry for him to shake, but Harry didn't take it.

Alex reached under her chair, and began rummaging through her trunk to find her robes.

"I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks," Harry responded, coolly.

Malfoy's pale face tinted pink before he turned to Alex. "And what about you."

Alex, draped her robe over her arm, and stood up, facing Malfoy. Ron and Harry watched on.

"You're blocking the door," she said, indifferently. "I need to change into my robes, so if you'll excuse me." Malfoy shares at her incredulous. She raised an eyebrow at him, looking him straight in the eye until he finally moved out of the way. She stepped into the corridor, and turned beginning her search for a bathroom, hearing Malfoy's voice carry on back in the compartment.

"Say that again!" She heard Ron shout. Rolling her eyes, Alex continued walking. "Boys..."

The corridor was filled with other students, running around. There were a few candy wrappers littering the floor, and Alex felt a twinge of guilt, sorry for however had to clean the train after. Though she supposed cleaning must be far easier with magic. Lost in thought, she didn't realize the other students gawking at her as she passed. Nor did she watch where she was going, running straight into a blonde girl.

"Oh! I'm so sorry," Alex began apologizing.

"No worries," the blonde girl said. "Where are you headed?"

Alex's heart sank a bit in embarrassment. "I don't actually know, but I'm trying to find a bathroom to change into my robes. You wouldn't happen to know where I could find one?"

"Sure do. Just keep walking in this direction, it's at the back of the car, on your left."

"Thank you, uh..."

"Hannah." The girl offered her hand, and Alex took it.

"Alex. Thanks again." She smiled, and skirted around Hannah, finding the bathroom at last. Once she had changed, Alex shoved her sweatpants and shirt into a small over the shoulder bag she brought with her. 

A voice rang out through the whole train, "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Back in the corridor, chaos reigned. She had to fight through crowds of students, some rushing to put their robes on, others trying to close their trunks again. Alex was having a hard time not bumping into people. This time on her way back, she noticed the stares and whispers that followed her.

Halfway back, she tripped over someone's foot, and fell to the floor.

"Alright there Alex?" she heard a familiar voice above her. She looked up to see one of the Weasley twins. He helped her back up to her feet. "You'd better watch where you're going there, wouldn't want to hit your head and get another scar." She cracked a smile at the joke. "I'm just having immense difficulty making my way back to my compartment. Got to make sure Harry isn't getting into trouble without me."

"Well good luck getting back," he told her smiling. "Thanks."

Just as Alex mad it back, she felt the train began to slow down. All the students started filing off onto a dark platform. Alex grabbed Harry's elbow in attempts not to lose him to the crowd. The night air was cold, and the stars were already starting to appear in the purple sky.

A lamp come bobbing over the heads of the students, and the twins heard Hagrid, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! C'mon follow me, mind yer step now!" The twins made their way over to him, and he beamed down at the two of them. "All right there, Harry? Alex?"

Hagrid led the first years down a narrow path, to the edge of a great lake. Perch atop a mountain on the other side a castle with windows glittering in the moonlight.

"That there, is Hogwarts." There was a chorus of "Ooooh," from the group.

"No more'n four a boat!" Hagrid called, motioning to the fleet of small boats on the shore. Harry and Alex climbed into one, followed by Ron and Hermione. Once everyone was in, the boats moved forward towards the castle, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass.

As they neared the cliff, on which Hogwarts was perched, the boats sailed under a wide tunnel, until they reached this kind of underground harbor, where they all hopped out.

"Trevor!" Neville exclaimed, holding up his lost toad. A few laughs rang out around him.

Hagrid led them up a flight of stone steps. At the top, they all crowded around a set of massive, ornate doors.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"

Hagrid raised his fist and then knocked on the door three times.


	11. The Sorting Hat

The doors opened immediately. A stern faced witch with black hair dressed in emerald-green robes stood there. Harry knew right then; this would not be a woman to cross.

"Professor McGonagall," Hagrid greeted the woman.

"Thank you Hagrid. I will take them from here."

The entrance hall was enormous. Flaming torches lined the wall, similarly to those at Gringotts. McGonagall led the first years up a grand staircase to the upper floors and into a chamber off of a main hall. They crowded in silently, hearing the steady drone of voice on the other side of the wall—the rest of the school must already be here.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall said, capturing every student's attention. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you can take your seats in the Great Hall, you must be sorted into your houses. This ceremony is very important because while you are here, your house will be like your family. The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, each with their own noble history, and all having produced outstanding witches and wizards.

During your time at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you house points, while any rule-breaking will result in losing house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope you all will be a credit to which ever house becomes your own.

The sorting ceremony will begin shortly. I will fetch you all when we are ready for you. Until then," she gazed out over the lot, her face ever impassive. "I suggest you smarten yourselves up as best as you can."

As McGonagall departed, Harry moved to try and flatten his hair some, while Alex took her hair out to redo her ponytail.

"How exactly do they sort us?" Harry whispered to Ron.

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."

Harry and Alex locked eyes as their hearts leapt out of their chests. A test? In front of the whole school? They hadn't a clue how to do any magic yet—what would they have to do? They glanced around at all the other terrified faces. Harry hadn't been this nervous since he got sent home to the Dursleys with a report about how he had somehow dyed the teacher's wig blue, and Alex hadn't been this terrified since she got blamed for setting the neighbor's dog on Dudley one summer. To her right, Alex heard Hermione Granger muttering every spell she knew under her breath. She reached out and took Harry's hand in hers. They didn't look at each other; they simply stared at the door ahead, each trying desperately to steel their nerves. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and lead them to their doom.

Out of nowhere, several people behind them screamed, causing them to jump about a foot in the air. They turned and gasped, as about ten pearly white ghosts and just entered the room through the wall. They seemed to be arguing amongst themselves, totally unaware of the first years below as they glided across the room.

"I think we have given Peeves more than enough chances—I say, what are you all doing here?" A ghost finally noticed them.

"New students!" Another ghost exclaimed. "About to be sorted I suppose?" A few nodded silently in response.

"I hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old house, you know."

"Move along," a sharp voice called. Professor McGonagall had returned. The ghosts drifted through the opposite wall into the Great Hall. "Now form a line and follow me."

Harry got into line between Alex and Ron.

The Great Hall was the most wondrous thing the twins had ever seen. The room was lit by thousands of candles floating above four long tables where the rest of the students sat. The teachers were sat at a fifth long table at the top of the room. The first years were brought before this table. To avoid looking out at the faces in the room, Harry looked up at the velvety blue ceiling.

"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside," he heard Hermione whisper. "I read about it in Hogwarts, A History."

Profess McGonagall set a four-legged stool before the first years, and on this she placed a pointed wizard's hat. Everyone in the hall now stared at the hat. Alex thought it was the trick of the light when she saw the hat twitch, but then a rip near the brim opened like a mouth, and the hat began to sing:

Oh you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me.  
You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can cap them all.  
There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
if you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folks use any means  
To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!

The whole hall burst into applause when the hat finished its song.

"So we've just got to try the hat on!" said Ron. "I'll kill Fred; he was going on about wrestling a troll."

Alex laughed, trying not to think too much about having to get up in front of the whole school.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward again, unrolling a parchment. "When I call your name, you will sit on the stool to be sorted. Abbott, Hannah!" The blonde girl Alex met on the train stepped forward. The hat fell over her eyes. A moments pause—

"Hufflepuff!" shouted the hat. One of the tables broke out in cheers and applause as she hopped off the stool to take a seat. Harry noticed the ghost from before waving merrily.

"Bones, Susan!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Boot, Terry."

"Ravenclaw!"

"Brown, Lavender," became the first Gryffindor, then "Bulstrode, Millicent," was sorted into Slytherin. Perhaps it was just from everything he had heard, but Harry thought they looked like an unpleasant lot.

The twins each felt a pit in their stomach, as they were painfully reminded of being picked for teams during school. They were always last to be picked, not based on their skill, but because no one wanted Dudley to think they liked either of them. 

"Finch-Fletchly, Justin."

"Hufflepuff!"

They had noticed that for some the hat knew instantly, but for others, like "Finnigan, Seamus," it would sit for a while minute before deciding.

"Granger, Hermione."

"Gryffindor!"

Ron groaned, rolling his eyes.

A terrible thought crossed Harry's mind—what if they weren't picked for any of the houses. What if when the hat was placed on their heads, nothing happened. Then they tossed them out There was clearly some sort of mistake. Or even worse, it only sorted one of them. What would happen to the other? Their hands found each other again, a nervous habit Alex passed to Harry when they were younger.

Neville Longbottom nearly tripped over his own feet when he was called, and after being sorted into Gryffindor, walked off with the hat still on his head. He had to turn around and bring it back to give to "MacDougal, Morag."

When it was Malfoy's turn, he practically strut towards the stool. The hat barely touched his head before hollering out, "Slytherin!"

The line at the front was thinning. "Moon" ... "Nott" ... "Parkinson" ... another pair of twins "Patil" and "Patil" ... then at last—

"Potter, Alexandra." She let go of her brother's hand and made her way forward. Whispers had broken out all over the hall. "Potter did she say?"

All eyes were on Alex as she took a seat, and she was thankful the hat fell right over her eyes, so she wouldn't have to look out at the sea of faces. A small voice spoke in her ear, "Hm, interesting. All together well-rounded, loyal, but to a fault sometimes...lots of talent I see, yes...I know just where to put you—Hufflepuff!" She heard the last word spoken to the hall. She took the hat off, shakily and made her way to the table on her right, taking a seat next to Hannah, the only familiar face for her. A couple people reached out to shake her hand, or pat her on the shoulder as she passed, smiling weakly. Her heart was hammering in her ears she hardly noticed the roaring cheer she got.

"Potter, Harry!" McGonagall's voice cut through the noise. The hall fell silent again. She craned her neck to get a good view, ultimately having to stand, silently hoping he would get the same house. She saw him whisper something to the hat, but she couldn't hear what he said, and then suddenly the hat shouted, "Gryffindor!" Her heart sank, but she put on a smile. His eyes found hers, and she clapped for her brother as he made his way to the table next to hers.

She watched as Percy the Prefect nearly shook Harry's hand off, and the Weasley twins yelled out, "We got a Potter!"

Alex turned away and looked up at the high table properly now, noticing Hagrid. He gave each of the twins a thumbs up. They both immediately recognized Professor Dumbledore seated in the center, from the chocolate frog card. Further along down the table sat nervous, Professor Quirrell from the Leaky Cauldron, with his purple turban atop his head.

Just a few students left to sort. "Dean, Thomas," who was put into Gryffindor along with "Weasley, Ronald." Percy congratulated his younger brother at the table. Lastly, "Zabini, Blaise," was made a Slytherin.

McGonagall rolled up the scroll, and moved the stool and hat out of the way once more.

Dumbledore stood up at the high table beaming down at everyone, and the room fell quiet again.

"Welcome, everyone to a new year at Hogwarts. Before we begin the feast, I would like to say a few words, and here they are: Nitwit, blubber, oddment, tweak! Thank you." The hall applauded, and cheered. Alex knew right away she'd like this headmaster.

"Is he a bit--?"

"A bit mad?" A brunet boy sitting across from her finished the question. "Professor Dumbledore's a genius, but the best do tend to be a bit mad. Cedric Diggory." He reached his hand across the table, and Alex took it. "Alex Potter."

"I know." Of course, Alex thought to herself. It was then that she noticed the dishes in front of her were now piled with food. Never had she seen so much food. The Dursleys didn't exactly starve her and Harry, but they had never been allowed to eat as much as they had wanted. Despite not having eaten since noon, she wasn't entirely hungry, but she decided to eat something anyway. It looked far too good to just ignore.

She stole a glance behind Cedric at her brother, who was laughing at something one of the Gryffindor boys had said. Cedric glanced behind him, noticing the gloomy look on Alex's face. Hannah noticed this too, and decided to try and take Alex's mind off of it.

"Say Alex, what do you like to do for fun?"

"Fun?" Hannah nodded. Alex had to think for a bit. They didn't do a lot of fun things around the Dursleys. Her and Harry had always been left at Mrs. Figg's, or shut up in the attic.

"I like to play chess," she said at last. "And sometimes my aunt makes me do the gardening in the front yard. Oh! I like to cook!" After having to cook several things for the Dursleys she found out she quite enjoyed it. "It's amazing how many different things you can make with a handful of ingredients."

"You might enjoy potions then, but mind you not the potions teacher," Cedric told her. He pointed to the table at the front. "Professor Snape teaches potions but everyone knows he's after the defense against the dark arts post. He's also rather strict on his students. All except for the Slytherins, because he's head of their house. Seated second from the left."

"Next to Quirrell?" She asked. Cedric nodded. Alex found him, greasy black hair, with a hooked nose, dressed in all black robes. "Who died?" She joked. Hannah snorted next to her.

"Ha! Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen that man wear a single spot of color."

Just then, Snape looked over at her, straight into her eyes. A bolt of pain shot through her forehead, behind her eye. Alex just about smacked herself in the head, sucking in a sharp inhale. But the pain left as soon as it came. She glanced up at Harry, and saw he was holding his scar as well.

"What's wrong?" Hannah asked, worried.

"N-nothing. Who's our head of house?" Alex tried to change the subject quickly.

"That would be Professor Sprout. She's on the left of McGonagall." Alex pointedly avoided looking over at Snape again, and surveyed the table, finding Sprout, a stout woman, with a kind looking, albeit weathered face. For the rest of the feast, she avoided looking up at the front again.

Soon dessert appeared on the tables before them, and the talk turned to family.

"My parents were pretty shocked when my letter came," said Justin Finch-Fletchly. "Not a single wizard in the family as far as they knew."

Alex thought back to Uncle Vernon's reaction, and they day the living room got flooded with letters. In retrospect it was worth a laugh.

As soon as dessert disappeared, Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. At this, everybody promptly ceased their talking.

"Ahem— a few more words, if you please. There are some start-of-term notices I'd like to give you. First years should note the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all, and a few of our older students will do well to remember that as well." He flashed a look in the Weasley twins' direction. "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, our caretaker, to remind you all that there is no magic allowed in the corridors.

Quidditch trials will be held in two weeks. Anybody wishing to try out should contact Madam Hooch.

Finally, I must tell you all that this year the third-flood corridor on the right side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a terrible death."

Alex gave a small cough. "Is he serious?"

"Must be," Cedric responded. Alex raised her eyebrows.

"And now," Dumbledore continued, "Before we send you all off to bed, let us sing the school song!"

Both of the twins noted the teachers seated at the high table did not look too pleased at this notion. Dumbledore waved his wand, and a gold ribbon shot out into the air, twisting itself into words.

"Everybody pick their favorite tune, and off we go!"

The hall was filled with quite a few off key choruses, as they all sang:

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,  
Teach us something please,  
Whether we be old and bald,  
Or young with scabby knees,  
Our heads could do with filling,  
With some interesting stuff,  
For now they're bare and full of air,  
Dead flies and bits of fluff,  
So teach us things worth knowing,  
Bring back what we've forgot,  
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,  
And learn until our brains all rot.

Harry caught Alex's eye, and she made faces at him while she sang. He was finding it very hard not to laugh at her display. He saw the blonde girl next to her join in and her dramatics. Everyone finished at different times. The Weasley Twins were the last left singing to a very slow funeral march. Alex and the blonde girl had both stood up, and swayed to the tune. The blonde girl hung an arm over Alex's shoulder, and they held their hands to their hearts. Dumbledore conducted their last few bars with his wand, and clapped the loudest for them when all was said and done.

"Ah music," he said, wiping an eye. "Beyond any magic we teach here. Now off to bed you trot."

The Hufflepuffs followed their prefect out into the hall, while the Gryffindors followed Percy. Harry found Alex again, and walked with her, wanted to discuss what had happened with their scars earlier.

"...when I made eye contact with Snape."

"Yeah, I don't understand—"

"How one look could just do that."

"There's got to be an explanation."

"Maybe it's like instinct," Alex suggested. "Twin-stinct!"

They walked down the hall together until the two crowds met a set of stairs. It seemed the Gryffindors were going up, whilst the Hufflepuffs were going down.

They parted ways, continuing to glance back at the other until they were out of sight. Then it hit Alex as she descended the staircase—this would be the first time she was apart from Harry. Sure they had a few classes apart in grade school, but that was only for about an hour at a time. They were in completely different houses now. Separate parts of the school. The thought excited her terribly. She was glad not to have to share everything with him anymore, but at the same time, she felt like a part of her was missing.

The Hufflepuffs were led down a lower corridor, past a large still life that hung on a wall to their left, to a stony recess in the wall on their right. There sat a stack of large barrels.

"Gather 'round first years," Their prefect directed.

"To get into the common room, simply knock to the rhythm of 'Helga Hufflepuff,' that's our house founder. Tap on this barrel, like so," she demonstrated.

The barrel swung open, and the Hufflepuffs began to file in, one by one. Alex walked up the tunnel until it opened up to cozy, circular room with a high ceiling. It was absolutely brilliant. Plants that Alex couldn't even name hung from the ceiling, or sat on honey-colored wood shelves. Across the room an ornate mantelpiece was situated, and hanging above a portrait a lovely looking woman. This, must be Helga Hufflepuff, Alex thought to herself.

"Girl's dormitories are on the right, boys on the left."

Alex found that all of her stuff had been brought up, and on the foot of every bed sat a patchwork quilt, giving the place a very homey feel. It was wonderful. Alex wondered if the Gryffindor common room was nearly as magical.

Too excited to sleep, Alex sat on the floor by her bed, busying herself with reorganizing her stuff to her liking. Hannah sat on the edge of the bed next to her.

"Did you hear? A few of the other 'puffs were talking about going to the kitchens at midnight tonight."

As if on cue her stomach growled. She had hardly eaten all day. A midnight snack was sounding pretty good right about now.

"C'mon." They crept back out to the common room in their pjs. There were a handful of the first years, including Justin, but the rest were all older students Alex hadn't met yet. She did recognize Cedric though.

"Is that everyone then?" he asked the group. "Alright, let's go." They all walked out into the now darkened corridor, back to the still life they had passed. As it turns out, this painting was the entrance to the kitchens. Once inside, Alex gasped.

The kitchens were massive. Several fireplaces were lit about the room, and several drawf-like creatures ran around, preparing for tomorrows breakfast. They had large ears and eyes, and knobby knees. "What are they?" Alex whispered.

"House elves," A boy answered on her right. "Hi, I'm Ernie, and you're—"

"Alex," she cut him off, not wanting to correct another person on what to call her today. He smiled.

One of the house-elves walked up to the group. "How can we help you?" he asked in a squeaky voice.

"Got anything for a midnight snack?" Cedric asked. The house elf nodded and pointed to what looked like the leftovers from the feast earlier. "Thanks."

"Of course, sir," the elf bowed deeply, his nose touching the ground.

"We won't get in trouble for this?" Alex asked no one in particular.

Cedric shook his head, "Nah. We do this all the time. Although, Molly, she's the prefect this year, couldn't join us. Would be a bit of a conflict of interest. Though, knowing her, she'll be back later this year."

All Alex could think as she sat drinking apple cider by a fireplace was how Hufflepuff was in fact the best house. She also knew she would be incredibly tired the following morning, but that was a problem for future-Alex.

Later, when they had made their way back to their beds, she made herself comfortable, in love with the warm quilt. Then on instinct, in her sleep-addled state, she whispered into the dark, "Good night H—" before she remembered. Harry wasn't there.

"Good night, Alex" Hannah whispered back.

The next morning, Alex would blame it on the midnight snacking, but her mind was plagued with the most absurd dreams. She saw herself in a mirror, but it wasn't her, it was Harry who was looking back at her. She heard a quiet voice talking to her. It sounded like it was trying to convince her to get transferred to Slytherin. Or was it trying to convince Harry in the mirror? It told her Slytherin was her destiny. Harry's face shifted, and then it was Professor Snape looking at her in the mirror. Pain shot through her head again, and she heard high pitched laughter, and there was a burst of green light.

She woke up in a sweat, mind muddled. She turned her pillow over, and the promptly fell back asleep once more. This time, her sleep was dreamless.


End file.
